Are You Really Prepared?

[unclejoe]

Yeah I know, this title was already used, but if you'll indulge me for a moment, I would like to approach the question from a different angle without hijacking FC's thread.
Most of us here garden to varying degrees. My garden has been getting larger every year for the last 3 years. This year I am up to about 5000sq ft. I mentioned in the other thread, that this would be the year we were going to grow enough of our own food to make it through the winter.
Last year my shelves in the cellar were filled to capacity, so I built another set early in the spring to double my storage space. I bought all heirloom seeds so I could start saving my own and not be dependent on the seed companies any more, and I got my pressure canner for those low acid veggies. Now it's time to start the growing season and filling those nice new shelves.
REALITY CHECK!!!
This has been the wettest year in about 12 years. ALL of my cool weather crops rotted in the ground before they could germinate. 2 8' rows of broccoli - 3 plants. 2 rows of brussel sprouts - 0 plants. 2 rows of carrots - about 20 plants. 40 pea seeds - 2 plants that produced about a dozen pods. Potatoes - 35 plants which succumbed to late blight. 20# of spuds from the 35 plants. Beets and lettuce did a little better. I got 16 pints of pickled beets. Oh well, I can do that stuff again in the fall. I'll move on to warm weather growing, except warm weather never really got here until about 2 weeks ago. I haven't picked enough tomatoes yet to make a full batch (7qts) of sauce. Lots of cherry tomatoes though. Green beans? I have about 30 beans in the fridge which will give me a pint - maybe. Lima beans - no flowers yet. Cukes - 4 pints and the leaves turned yellow and the vines withered; although I just noticed some new leaves on them so we'll see what happens. Corn is doing well. I picked the first 30 ears today. Watermelon and cantaloupe are coming along as well.

The point I'm trying to make here is , in my arrogance, I assumed that this year would be just like last with a bountiful harvest and a well stocked larder but nature had other ideas. Even with last years leftovers, if we had to go through winter with what we grew this year, we would be very hungry. It's been a real eye opener.
We aren't nearly as prepared as I thought we were.

 

[Ldychef2k]

I wonder if an alternative would be to put your eggs in several baskets, so to speak.

For example, divide your food storage between home canned, frozen, commercially canned and dhydrated. The latter two can easily last several years, and many dehydrated foods, when packed without oxygen, can go ten or twenty years with very little diminution in nutrition or taste.

the main enemy with canned foods is rust. Dipping cans in melted wax fights that off very well. Cans can last almost forever when protected from rust.

I keep this list in my food storage notebook to remind me of shelf life. I rotate my stored foods according to their shelf life. I plan on being buried with a can of Spam, just in case I get the munchies !

http://theprepared.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=36

 

[FarmerDenise]

Ldychef2k, that is an interesting site, and good information on food shelf life. Thanks

 

[dragonlaurel]

That is so frustrating! I hope Mother Nature is kind to your fall garden.
Want to trade garden spaces? I have an upstairs balcony with herbs and some veggies growing in pots. Three really pretty oaks shade it till the leaves drop.
I can whatever I get a good deal on a bunch of, made pickles recently, we have a juicer, a dehydrator, and make our own bread. Had to remind myself there was still progress happening. At least you know what to do and you already have your land. Good luck!

 

[FarmerChick]

Good to hear from you UncleJoe but bad about your harvest.

You are right that Mother Nature has her own plans and she does what she wants, and we can only hope our fields do well.

My farm has not produced as much income this year from produce. I have troubles here also

A small greenhouse would help solve some problems for producing food. You won't get tons but it would help fill the pantry a bit. Loop houses are good for the fields to produce further. Transplants do better than seeds sometimes...You know, if you ARE relying mainly on your gardens, you need all the help you can get. Also, in the older days hunting was very heavily relyed on for food to make it thru winter, as were farm animals.

Many an old timer had produce problems...they made it thru.

 

[justusnak]

I am definately on the same page as you unclejoe. We decided this year we would put in a second garden area....3x's larger than the last. Our little original garden is only anbout 15 x 20, maybe. So I used it for onions, potatos, cabbage,brocoli..we have 2 small baskets of onions....potatos..well...I took out about 1/4 of the area, and got enough for ONE small pot of green beans and taters....I think there are 2 cabbages out there, no brocoli..we tilled it under, and I have planted fall beets...will be planting peas in a few weeks. The larger garden...our "pantry filler" ( HA!) what a bust. 30 tomato plants...so far....10 pints of tomato product. Blight got them. Corn..well...I pulled 7 ears the other day...about 4 inches long. Green peppers...had 10 plants....2 left...the others drowned from all the water. We planted 2-40 ft rows of beets...I think there are 12 pints in the pantry. Out of 2-40ft rows of grean beans..42 pints. not bad...but not NEARLY enough to get through winter. Mother Nature was NOT kind to us gardeners this year. We lost our 2 peach trees....one Cherry tree...( have 3 left tho) and we lost 1 Apple, ( have one left) The Grapes had Birds eye rot. I have been scrounging what I can get my hands on...and just praying this will not be a hard winter. Hard winters, we tend to be inside more...and want to eat more.

 

[2dream]

I think the whole country has had garden problems of one type or another this year. I did not even get 20 lbs of potatos. I got 4 and thats taters not 4 lbs. LOL I ended up buying produce to can this year that I have never had to purchase before. Green beans and tomatos. We have always had an abundance of both......... but not this year. Oh well, thats the way ole Mother Nature is.

We spent a small fortune on heirloom seed this year too. Most washed down the hill after the garden flooded 3 times. I don't even know if the seed were good. Someone at the end of the flood water run off is probably wondering why corn, watermelons,
peas, lima beans, green beans and tomatos keep sprouting up in their well manicured lawn. They have spent a fortune in gas trying to keep it all mowed down and had 3 trips to the Dr. for pain meds for their aching backs from bending over trying to pull it up by the roots.
Now that the beaver damn that created that particular problem is gone hopefully we won't have that problem again.

We can never be prepared because, unless we are physic, we never know whats going to happen. We can only do the best we can with what we have to work with.

Ldychef is right. Store purchased and commercially packaged items are a must and as FC said the old timers had the same problem.

I think being prepared mentally for the failures is just as, if not more important than any sucess we might have.

 

[freemotion]

A good knowledge of foragable foods in your vicinity is helpful. I wouldn't eat most of 'em on a regular basis, but to know what is available and where it grows nearby is comforting.

Having a few critters that can turn what is inedible to us into edible food is helpful, too. I can forage for my goats and chickens and turkeys more easily than I can find food for myself, considering what they eat. I have my eye on the acorn crop this year, last year was a total bust.

I could live a long time on milk, eggs, and cheese. Might never poop again, but I'd live!

 

[davaroo]

Ldychef2k has hit on it. I guess maybe you learned a valuable lesson, this year: there is always a disaster lurking. If it isn't man-made, then it is natural.
Being totally prepared for every eventuality is a dream, not a reality. The thing to do is to have your assets spread out.

I remember life on the farm and my grandmothers larder. She didn't rely on it solely for the food we ate. There were also ground grain foods like wheat, rye and corn, cheeses and milk, chicken and preserved pork.

She also traded in town. The idea of living solely off the land wasn't in their minds. I remember her attitude: They had had enough of that pioneering stuff back in Norway. This was America, after all.
Even in the Great Depression, when times were really tough, they didn't attempt to isolate themselves. They lived simply, but they took advantage of what was available.

I think that something useful can be taken from their farm book. Grow and preserve as much of your food as you can, certainly. Also, rely on grains, milking livestock, chickens and preserved meats. And don't forget that even in the worst of times, no man is an island.

 

[Tallman]

Our biggest disaster in the garden was the sweet corn. Just couldn't get it up and going.

Our best garden crops are tomatoes, potatoes, and popcorn. I like crops that do not have to be frozen, canned, or dried, and two out of these three crops fill the bill. We dig potatoes with our tractor, and I would bet that there are about 5 wash tubs to harvest. As for the popcorn, I'm thinking that there is about 4 or 5 bushel to harvest and then shell.

We have been having some nice summer rains so I am thinking I should plant some turnips. We are not really turnip eaters; however, they beats nothing at all!

I have 4 buckets of wheat and plan to buy some dried beans and rice to store in bulk.

As for meat, my BIL has cattle, and so far he has never mentioned that he has missed any. Besides his cattle we have deer, turkey, squirrels, and stray dogs in the area so the meat deal is not a problem.