43 replies to this topic

[themartianchick]

Darlene's thread entitled, " I've Always Said..." prodded me to re-inventory the pantry to see just how much food we really have on hand. We are a family of four adults. It appears that we have about 7 months of food on hand, excluding the food that is kept in our regular kitchen cabinets. Since our chickens are currently giving us a few (2 or 3) eggs per day, I did my calculations based upon that number of eggs rather than the 7-8 per day that we expect in the warmer months. I also didn't count the quail at all since we would need to hatch more eggs in order to increase the flock. Our existing birds could be eaten, but then we wouldn't be self-sustaining. We have plenty of seeds that could be planted to grow more food.

Based upon the outcome of the inventory, I have decided to expand it a bit more to get to a 12 month supply. I hope to reach that goal by the end of next month by using a bit of our tax refund. I know that everyone here has a slightly different take on how much food to store. Some folks, like the LDS have religious guidelines that are laid out for them to stock at least 2 years worth of food. Others may just feel a need to stock up...

I'd really like to hear how much food you believe is a good goal for your own family size (it doesn't matter if you have achieved it or not) and why. As I attempt to wrap my own head around the question of how much is enough for us, I'll be pondering several factors:

We live in a mid-sized city.
In a true TEOTWAWKI situation, we'd have to pack up as much as possible and bug out to the country.
We drive a mid-sized SUV.
Unless some pennies from Heaven fall, we will not be able to move to the country for at least a year or two.

Edited by themartianchick, 18 January 2011 - 11:15 AM.

[Jori]

We/I use the LDS guideline as my start (one year food) but I feel that I should have more. We are a family of 4 and a 1/2. 2 adults, a 4 year old, an almost 3 year old and baby due in June.

I feel like if/when the bottom falls out I can make a year for us plus our small garden for fresh. The additional (year ideally) is to make sure we have more than enough and to help as needed. My parents are on a limited income and have medical concerns, we put a garden in for them last year that will be expanded this year and some fruit trees will be added. They know about the blueberry bushes but don't know I'm going to put a fruit bearer of some sore in the back. My sisters and their families (2 adults each one with 1 toddler and the other with a 3 yo and an infant) have no interest in prepping or canning. I offered to take the rest of the pears from DD's tree if they took them off & I would make pear sauce since their DD loves it. They said great and never did anything (Glad I picked what I could reach).

I try to do at least 52 pints of each veggie that I can and will try with salsa and fruit this year. One a week of something is a good rule of thumb and gives you some variety and then I still have frozen and will have dried this year.

[TurtleMama]

Slowly, slowly, I'm working toward a year of food and supplies. After we've got that on hand, I'll start trying to figure out how to max it out to two years' worth. That's some super rotation to keep track of...I'll have to figure out how to keep track of it all!

Using the tax refund is a smart idea...I'll have to bring that up to DH.

[Nichole]

We have a family of 7 adults and 1 child. Currently I am building up for 3 months, but I would like to eventually have one years worth, at least. In addition to the store bought goods, we are getting about a dozen eggs a day from the chickens in the winter. In the summer we will have our garden, wild berries, plus our planted berry bushes. This year I am going to plant some apple trees. Slowly but surely...

Edited by Nichole, 18 January 2011 - 04:24 PM.

[Deerslayer]

i have about a years worth in the "working pantry" --mainly things from the grocery store
plus 2 years worth of lts stocked away-

we have a mixed mature orchard plus i am adding in young trees too
we have lots of berries and a very large garden
we also live in a low population of people high population of wild animals
i am adding in a very large quail crop and chickens this year too


-i wanted to have extra in case gardening and hunting, fishing, etc are not possible.

[CrabGrassAcres]

I'm aiming for 7 yrs for two with some extra in case family joins us.
Some things aren't really practical to put up for that long. I don't have funds for a lot of freeze dried stuff in cans. So the 7 yrs is basic foods. Grains, dried potatoes, legumes, sugar, salt, seasonings, molasses and honey. I have at least 4 yrs of meat canned up. This is all meat I produced here. We have poultry and goats for dairy, meat and eggs. I have a couple yrs of dried fruits and veggies on hand. Plan to augment that with a garden, however, we had another bad gardening season here this yr. Hoping the new location will work a lot better for that. Will put in an orchard as soon as we move. Also have coffee, tea and cocoa for several yrs. I can stretch that out if needs must, though I don't really drink tons of it, nor does daughter.

I don't have a lot of toiletries or such. I make our soap so I stock lye. I have lard from the pigs and will have to get some more pigs down the road. Fat doesn't keep well. I use mostly soda, borax and vinegar for cleaning and laundry. I can produce vinegar but I've stocked up on the soda and borax. I have some vinegar, but it doesn't keep long term. I do have a couple yrs worth of toilet paper, after that, it will be cloth.

I've also stocked multiple yrs worth of minerals for the goats and other livestock. I make most of our medicinals from herbs and we don't take Rx meds for anything.

I've got clothes enough for the 7yrs plus material to make more and a treadle machine as well as my electric machine.

I'm light on lamp fuel, but I don't want to move it, so will get that later. I also plan to put in a propane tank and wall heater. Hoping to get an outside wood furnace too. It will have a 12vdc fan that can run off the batteries/solar. Have to get batteries after we move. I have 50# of candle wax too and a few candles. If I needed to, I could make candles pretty fast, it isn't that hard.

Also a bit light on the livestock feed. Again, we are moving so I'm not going all out on that right now.

For water, we are on a community well and I keep a cistern (1500 gal) on standby. The livestock have a couple of ponds too.

I mostly cook and bake from scratch and can my own foods. We don't depend much on commercially prepared foods, mostly buy ingredients. It is cheaper and healthier.

[anitapreciouspearl]

The computer ate my first post

We are a family of 9 and I am also aiming for a years supply.

I used to think in terms of boxes and cans and had approx. a 3 month supply.

Moving has allowed me to go to what will be a much better plan - 1 year of bulk grains and basics. I have room for a huge garden, a root cellar and I am a beginning canner - that will eventually take care of most veggies. We have enough animals to have a good start and are planning on some more next spring.

I am now at about 5 months for 10 people and hoping to sharpen my skills to improve my chances of success.

[cootie]

First of all....."Its never enough..." The more you prep the more you realize there is always something else. So relax and just stick by the prepper's motto..."Build your fortress and stock it well." Just keep going. It really is a lifestyle and it really never ends.

As for our family, there are six of us so I prep for 10, just in case I take in those in need. I prep slowly due to health issues, but things get accomplished a little at a time. We stock just about everything we can think of from your basic food, water and shelter to sewing, future birthday and Christmas presents, medicinals, first aid, and extra cash. If there is a possibility we will not be able to obtain it sometime during perilous times, we stock it. My daughter and I like to garden (her, more than I...LOL!) and I dehydrate foods as opposed to canning. I stock yarn because I crochet and knit so I like to make sure I have enough to make warm things for future cold winters.

My storage is ample in some places, and depleted in others. Like everyone else, I continue to play the balancing game of rotation and restocking as the LORD allows. Sometimes we have the money, sometimes we don't. But we make our way taking baby steps and keeping faith in God. He will provide!

Blessings

[cootie]

I'm aiming for 7 yrs for two with some extra in case family joins us.
Some things aren't really practical to put up for that long. I don't have funds for a lot of freeze dried stuff in cans. So the 7 yrs is basic foods. Grains, dried potatoes, legumes, sugar, salt, seasonings, molasses and honey. I have at least 4 yrs of meat canned up. This is all meat I produced here. We have poultry and goats for dairy, meat and eggs. I have a couple yrs of dried fruits and veggies on hand. Plan to augment that with a garden, however, we had another bad gardening season here this yr. Hoping the new location will work a lot better for that. Will put in an orchard as soon as we move. Also have coffee, tea and cocoa for several yrs. I can stretch that out if needs must, though I don't really drink tons of it, nor does daughter.

I don't have a lot of toiletries or such. I make our soap so I stock lye. I have lard from the pigs and will have to get some more pigs down the road. Fat doesn't keep well. I use mostly soda, borax and vinegar for cleaning and laundry. I can produce vinegar but I've stocked up on the soda and borax. I have some vinegar, but it doesn't keep long term. I do have a couple yrs worth of toilet paper, after that, it will be cloth.

I've also stocked multiple yrs worth of minerals for the goats and other livestock. I make most of our medicinals from herbs and we don't take Rx meds for anything.

I've got clothes enough for the 7yrs plus material to make more and a treadle machine as well as my electric machine.

I'm light on lamp fuel, but I don't want to move it, so will get that later. I also plan to put in a propane tank and wall heater. Hoping to get an outside wood furnace too. It will have a 12vdc fan that can run off the batteries/solar. Have to get batteries after we move. I have 50# of candle wax too and a few candles. If I needed to, I could make candles pretty fast, it isn't that hard.

Also a bit light on the livestock feed. Again, we are moving so I'm not going all out on that right now.

For water, we are on a community well and I keep a cistern (1500 gal) on standby. The livestock have a couple of ponds too.

I mostly cook and bake from scratch and can my own foods. We don't depend much on commercially prepared foods, mostly buy ingredients. It is cheaper and healthier.

WOW! You are an inspiration to me!

[Ambergris]

CGA, remind me the first January after you move if you can use a batch of rabbiteye cuttings suited to Zone 8 and upper 9. If we're not allowed to ship such stuff at that time, I might send you an artsy little green twig broom or something.

Right now, only my Araucanas and one of the Black Australorps lay every week. They're a few years old, so it's time to get new chicks. We are discussing started pullets instead, but good ones from reliably healthy flocks are so hard to come by.

We have six adults. In an extended crisis, we might have one more teenager (the daughter of a housemate) coming in or we might lose her father from the household. I want two years of basic rations, anticipating that the more desirable ingredients will be largely consumed in the first year (human nature and an acknowledgment that some of this stuff won't last years without AC) and that the less desirable might have to be stretched into a third year. My goal is 5000 vitamins; 100 pounds each of parmesan/romano cheese, of powdered milk, and of carne seca; 150 pounds of salt; 200 lbs each of barley, of white flour and of oats; 300 lbs sugar; 400 lbs pasta (both high-protein and ramen); 500 lbs of corn (corn grows well here); 600 pounds of rice; 700 pounds of various peas and beans; 800 lbs combined soft wheat and minor grains like kamut, buckwheat, sesame, and quinoa; and 900 lbs hard wheat. I would also want three years of garden seeds for myself, each of my near neighbors, and for other friends too. I have absolutely nothing like this accumulated, and would be stumped as to where to put it if it suddenly landed in my driveway.

We live outside a mid-sized city, in an easily overrun area
We have immediate access to fresh water and fishing, but no way to protect the water from being contaminated or overfished.
We have new and established fruit/nut trees but very little room for vegetables.
We have, at least under current conditions, access to sufficient green pasture and duckweed to feed chickens, rabbits, etc. for nine months of the year. We don't have the rabbits, etc.

In a true TEOTWAWKI situation, we'd have to stay in place. There is nowhere suitable to go.

[themartianchick]

Wow! Thank you so much for these replies. You've all given me a lot to think about. I believe that I can take a bit from all of your stocking styles.

From Jori - The stocking to be able to help others hasn't really been on my radar. Hubby comes from a very large family and he has 11 living siblings( and their families) in the surrounding area. I have my parents and two siblings (and their families). My sisters prep in varying degrees for convenience and my parents have always kept about a 9 month supply of food in the house, or at least that would be my best guess. The idea of trying to prep for all of hubby's relatives seems pretty daunting, but I know that it would be difficult for hubby to abandon them here in the city to bug out to the country if he didn't feel that we were able to give them SOMETHING to help them out.There is no possibility of them being able to bug out with us. So... Maybe, we could buy some extra cheap foods, like beans and rice so that we have enought to share. It might not be what they actually wantto eat, but it would help them to survive.

From Turtlemama - I will have to put some consideration into how I will rotate all of this. While my house is large, it is cut up in a very strange fashion. I will need to do some serious rearranging and develop a better organizational system to manage the stash.

From Nichole - We had planned to NOT plant any more long-term food plants/bushes/trees, since we don't plan to stay here permanently. We wanted to wait until we moved before getting things like apple or pear trees. However, maybe we can identify something else that isn't so difficult to move. We do garden and we have raspberries and strawberries,...Maybe we should get more strawberries, since those could be moved easily and they would be already established. I have a lot of seed catalogs to go through. If not strawberries, then maybe I can identify something else.

From Deerslayer - Unfortunately, it sounds as though we live in places that are polar oppposites of eachother! However, I could build another quail cage and increase the flock. It wouldn't really cost anything because we have leftover wire and scrap lumber. Fertile eggs are free when you already have a flock and I do have two incubators. I could hatch them as soon as the weather breaks, maybe in early April. This go around, I will get in the habit of freezing extra eggs to ensure that I don't end up without when the chickens decide to moult!

From CrabgrassAcres - I am in awe of your goal of 7 years for two people! We don't buy all of those freeze dried items, either. I do dehydrate my own stuff, though. What I'm sensing is that while we've endeavored to stock up on foodstuffs, we've neglected to stock up on lifestuff. We have sewing needles and crochet hooks, but I'm not too sure as to how much yarn, fabric etc... we actually have on hand to manufacture anything out of. This is a whole other category that we have yet to address. I will be on the lookout for yarn and such at yard sales. We are a little light on the livestock feed, but I hate the idea of stocking actual milled feed since it can lose the nutritional value. A few weeks ago, birdseed was on sale at Aldis. We bought a bag, but money was tight. we should have purchased at least 12. The quail and chickens can both eat the kinds with the really small seeds, so it would be a good prep item to have on hand with no worry about it losing the nutritional value since the seeds are whole grains. We are also med-free but we do use some supplements like fish oil, glucosamine and melatonin.

From AnitaPreciousPearl - Oh my goodness... A family of 9!!! :faint3:How do you do it??!! Like you, I had been only thinking in terms of boxes and cans. Maybe I should reconsider my stance and at least get a few things like wheat and a grain mill. I've never even priced one out. Once we move, we should be able to do anything that we want. We decided that we weren't willing to settle for a property if it wouldn't enable us to do the things that we want to do now and allow for some growth. Besides, I hate the moving process. I do need to re-learn how to pressure can and buy a pressure canner. The pressure canner would allow me to can more than just the acidic foods that we do in the waterbath canner.

From Cootie - 'It is never enough'...Yep, that's what I was afraid of! I guess that I fear becoming a hoarder. I don't mind hanging onto something if I think that it could be useful, but I'm not sure that I'd know how to draw the line. As large as my house is, I'm always surprised that we've managed to fill it up in fewer than 20 years of owning it. Part of it is the odd configuration of the rooms, but how many rooms in a house can you devote to storage? Maybe that is the question that I need answered...

[themartianchick]

Right now, only my Araucanas and one of the Black Australorps lay every week. They're a few years old, so it's time to get new chicks. We are discussing started pullets instead, but good ones from reliably healthy flocks are so hard to come by.

Be careful with buying started pullets. Most hatcheries debeak them to keep them from pecking at eachother. This makes it harder for them to pick up food and forage for themselves. They tend to consume more commercial feed as a result.In TEOTWAWKI, the ability to forage would be crucial for self-sufficiency.

[themartianchick]

From Ambergris - Your location means that we have a few of the same problems in common, though a suburb is likely to be safer than in being directly in the city. The adult situation in your household is also similar as we have 4 with no children in the house. We probably have the three years of seeds in the house right now, but then again, I don't rightly know how to gauge what three years of seed actually looks like! We do have a big plastic tote filled with various seeds and each year, I add to the tote by buying more seeds on clearance. A conversation on another forum made me decide to order some buckwheat seed for feed. I do try to get fresh onion seeds, though because they don't seem to retain their viability, too well. If something were to happen to our municipal water, the only option here would be the rainbarrels. Under those conditions, we don't have enough of them. I hadn't really thought about a loss of municipal water. Our potable water storage is pretty good and we have two hot water tanks that store at least 40 gallons each. That nis one thing that can be easily rectified in the spring. We got our barrels for free from a company that makes hot dogs. We will have to get more barrels anyway if we are going to (finally) raise tilapia. There are no clean streams or lakes within a reasonable walking distance, but there are deer in the cemetary a short walk away. If we think of it before anyone else, we could probably bag a deer before other city folks even think about it. If the prepping fairy dropped an additional 2 months of food in my driveway, I'd be hard-pressed to find room for it unless I set it in the middle of the livingroom. I wish that our house had a "nice" basement that was conducive to storage. We keep tools in it and that is about it. Even the laundry room is on the second floor of the house.

[CrabGrassAcres]

CGA, remind me the first January after you move if you can use a batch of rabbiteye cuttings suited to Zone 8 and upper 9. If we're not allowed to ship such stuff at that time, I might send you an artsy little green twig broom or something.

Right now, only my Araucanas and one of the Black Australorps lay every week. They're a few years old, so it's time to get new chicks. We are discussing started pullets instead, but good ones from reliably healthy flocks are so hard to come by.

Thank you, Hon, I'd love some blueberry starts. It is one of the fruits I don't have any allergic reaction to.

Wish you were closer. I could let you have some nice hens. I'm going to have to reduce the flocks some before moving.

[anitapreciouspearl]

I am enjoying reading this thread.

Cootie said: My storage is ample in some places, and depleted in others. Like everyone else, I continue to play the balancing game of rotation and restocking as the LORD allows. Sometimes we have the money, sometimes we don't. But we make our way taking baby steps and keeping faith in God. He will provide!

This is the revolving door of food storage that comes with the store what you eat - eat what you store mantra. I like the idea but it makes keeping records a nightmare. I wish I could sort out how to keep track in a non-complicated way. This might be simple for a smaller family but my food storage is really just my big pantry. Moving food around from upstairs to downstairs and back seems like a lot of work There must be a better way

Being at peace with where we are at with food storage is the other important factor. I will admit to spending time every single day reading and learning about food storage and trying to do something practical about it. But ultimately I don't have a huge budget to spend and there are only so many hours in the day so being satisfied with what we can realistically accomplish is important!

Ambergis wrote: My goal is 5000 vitamins; 100 pounds each of parmesan/romano cheese, of powdered milk, and of carne seca; 150 pounds of salt; 200 lbs each of barley, of white flour and of oats; 300 lbs sugar; 400 lbs pasta (both high-protein and ramen); 500 lbs of corn (corn grows well here); 600 pounds of rice; 700 pounds of various peas and beans; 800 lbs combined soft wheat and minor grains like kamut, buckwheat, sesame, and quinoa; and 900 lbs hard wheat. I would also want three years of garden seeds for myself, each of my near neighbors, and for other friends too.

I have copies of every food storage calculator on the net. I just need to make up my mind what to do. Ambergis'ssss figures sound like very good goals. Simple and easy to tell if you have it or not. That's what I need

Maybe I'm just dealing with ADD these days...too much information...too many possibilities...maybe I need a vacation

[Darlene]

I have several years with renewable resources with which to replace the things that I use in various areas.

Foundational basics for me have always been sugar, flour (grains), salt. When I lived in the city, I canned an enormous amount of meats, vegetables and fruits, now I tend to grow alot more while still canning some. Spices are easy to grow and dry to put up and variety can be found in the many recipes that present foods differently.

We've talked alot about appetite fatigue so I've amassed a store of 'luxury' items like various forms of chocolate. I tend to buy items that I can't grow or buy affordably in raw form to can myself, and purchase them on sale. The other day I found cans of cherry pie filling for 99 cents a can...those normally go for $3.50 and higher.

Like others have said, I've been planting various fruit trees and bushes. I have several black walnut trees on my property and would like to plant one or two other varieties. I raise my own pork, make my own sausage and smoked products (bacon, ham hocks, salt pork, etc). I also raise my own beef so I benefit from all that affords. I have dairy goats whose milk I use for soaps and a few dairy products and I plan to have a Jersey by this summer to produce the fresh milk that will turn into even more dairy products, including cheese. The bees afford me a healthy raw honey, the sheep will provide fiber and meat if needed. Even though it's winter, I keep a light in the chicken coop on a timer so that the light comes on at 3am and turns off automatically at 8am, which has kept my egg layers laying close to what they do in the warmer months so I have an abundance of eggs.

I quit feeding my dogs commercial dog food and have switched them over to the Raw food diet which is amazing me by its results. They're healtier, more satisfied, getting better nutrition for about 1/3 of the price of the kibble. I know in the months and years ahead that I'll be able to feed them without having to buy a "bag of"...

I didn't know how to do any of these things I'm doing in the country 3 1/2 years ago. I've learned alot, so if I can, anyone can.

[themartianchick]

From Darlene - I guess that the lesson that I'm getting from you is that it all can be done in a reasonably short period of time if you just decide that you WILL do it! Speaking of time, I am curious as to how much TIME you invest in this each day...OH, and another question: Do you actually harvest and use your walnuts? If so, what is your method for getting them out of the green/black hulls? My parents have several trees on their property and we always picked them up in the fall to discourage the squirrels and chipmunks, but we didn't really use them. Our carriage house (home to the chickens) doesn't have electricity but it does have a lot of windows. Still, my girls are slacking on the egg production at this time of year. We do have a long enough cord to reach out there from the house, but we don't like to use it because there is no telling what someone will try to do out there while we are at work! IN an emergency situation, there might not be electricity, anyway.

I find it interesting that the raw food diet is cheaper than dog food. Is it less expensive because you raise all of the ingredients yourself or is it because the dogs eat less food over all? One thing that I would like to do is find a way to produce all of the feed for whatever animals that we eventually have. Do you raise any feed for your poultry and goats, other than castoffs from your own kitchen or gardens? I have some seeds for a few items that I have fed to my quail and chickens, like amaranth. I also have seeds for broomcorn, which I might try this year.

Edited by themartianchick, 20 January 2011 - 09:53 AM.

[Ambergris]

I have chickenfeed calculated in with what I want; the eggs will have better food value than the grains and grasses I "pay" for them.

In a shtf situation, TMC, you could let them out of the building for the last hour of the day during these short winter days, you could paint the inside of the chicken house gloss white, and you can tape a few space blankets to the ceiling where they won't get pecked but will still reflect the window light. That would maximize the amount of light reaching their brains during these short winter days.

You can put walnuts in a croaker sack or burlap bag and run the truck (or a car) over them a few times to get the fruit mashed mostly off them. I knew an old lady who put the sacks in the narrow part of the lane her milk cows walked to get to and from the barn. Then wear dirty plastic gloves to finish the hulling. Burlap bags aren't the cheap and readily available things they used to be, but you can probably come up with an equivalent.

[Nichole]

From Cootie - 'It is never enough'...Yep, that's what I was afraid of! I guess that I fear becoming a hoarder. I don't mind hanging onto something if I think that it could be useful, but I'm not sure that I'd know how to draw the line.

LOL I feel the same way! I always wonder where do you draw the line so my family doesn't think I'm a hoarder!

[themartianchick]

I have chickenfeed calculated in with what I want; the eggs will have better food value than the grains and grasses I "pay" for them.

In a shtf situation, TMC, you could let them out of the building for the last hour of the day during these short winter days, you could paint the inside of the chicken house gloss white, and you can tape a few space blankets to the ceiling where they won't get pecked but will still reflect the window light. That would maximize the amount of light reaching their brains during these short winter days.

You can put walnuts in a croaker sack or burlap bag and run the truck (or a car) over them a few times to get the fruit mashed mostly off them. I knew an old lady who put the sacks in the narrow part of the lane her milk cows walked to get to and from the barn. Then wear dirty plastic gloves to finish the hulling. Burlap bags aren't the cheap and readily available things they used to be, but you can probably come up with an equivalent.

Thank you! I may have to try that. I should ask mom if she picked up the nuts this year. Knowing her, she did! She's 78 years old and won't slow down for anybody or anything! If she has some, I can probably clean some up in the old laundry sink in the basement.