THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

milasavesmoney

THIRZAH wrote: »

Does anyone dry mint for mint tea? We have loads of mint in the garden and I've heard that the tea is good for the digestion.

Yes I regularly give my mint a hair cut and dry it. I live in an arid climate so it's just out on a plate for a couple of days. I'm sure it would do well on a screen in a dehydrator or maybe dried in a low oven overnight. It is wonderful with brown sugar (what's that in Britspeak?) or honey. Mine is spearmint and I just love using it! It goes in my iced tea made with black tea and lemon all through the hot weather here. Big believer in dried mint!!

milasavesmoney

pineapple wrote: »

But I've made nettle brew and lived to tell the tale (recommended before flowering and avoiding doggie pee places )

Spit out my tea reading this! :T

milasavesmoney

GreyQueen wrote: »

Bet you have seen it, it's as common as dirt: http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/fat-hen-not-just-chicken-feed-history.html

Plants can produce 20,000 seeds in one year. Which goes a long way to explaining how common it is. You can eat the leaves and the seeds. Like most wild greens, its taste gets likened to spinach. Only it's apparently more nutritious and free.:D

This is what I thought everyone was referring to, and couldn't figure out how it count be a weed in the rainy UK since it is a succulent. Thanks GQ!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_and_chicks

I have a varied supply of prep foods. It is a big thing in the US to buy dried foods for prepping storage. Lots of online companies and even Costco and Walmart sell such supplies. I have a [STRIKE]bunch[/STRIKE] few shelves in my closets with this type of food.

I used to can but now it doesn't seem worth the time or trouble since there are only three of us.
I still have all the jars, equipment and know how if need be. It is fun to watch YouTube videos on the subject. We have county extension offices who will run tests yearly on the large pressure cookers for canning to make sure they are safe for use. They also give classes and the latest safety info out in booklets. There are many books available online.

I have become overly dependent on my freezer, but have been part of a huge meat canning session when our freezer went out in my youth.

Someone was posting earlier about fermentation...was it on this thread? I'm interested and just bought a few lids and a book.

The thing that I do think needs to be stored is dried milk. A disruption in the milk supply would impact our family. It could be used to cook with and to make yogurt. I don't like the taste when drinking but I guess if I had to, I could get used to it. :eek:
Shelf stable milk is not a common item here but I think I'll start looking for it.

We buy dried beans and rice on sale and store in 5gal food grade plastic buckets.

We have been storing water in plastic milk jugs but just read not to do that as they will decompose. So I need to look into a better water storage solution.

I have enough spices to last till Armageddon. Herbs grow well if they get enough water. That would be the only problem where I live. I know Bob questioned bulk dried food in a water shortage but it rains so much in the UK I would think its not a huge worry?

There is a big difference in water bath canning and pressure canning. It's trickier to get it right with water bath but easier to do. Pressure canning is safer for most foods. I've done both, depending on what I was putting up.

I will say that I still use dried carrots that are sixteen years old. They plump up and bulk out whatever I put them in. I don't have a lot left and only use them if I have run out of carrots but dried foods do last a long long time.

Note to self: get more dried carrots

Generali

Sorry to be the one to break the news to you:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/bunker-food-not-just-for-the-apocalypse-anymore-1468944109?mod=e2tw

“The zombie apocalypse isn’t going to happen,” said Kenny Larson, marketing coordinator for Mountain House, which is owned by OFD Foods Inc., an Albany, Ore., freeze-dried food maker that has fed campers and the U.S. military, “but you might get snowed in and not be able to go the grocery store.”

grandma247

I have a presto 23qt canne r and bought a weight after seeing it talked about on my canning group last year. it is very difficult to get guages checked here so the weight was a much better option. I found I didn't have to constantly watch that the pressure was not too high or low. The weight keeps it at the right level automatically just like a pressure cooker.

How much water is available depends on where you live in the UK. I live in the North West and we have more than our fair share of rain most years. Some areas seems to have hose pipe bans in all but very wet summers.

milasavesmoney

Generali, do you mean to tell me there are never going to be any zombies?? I'm just crushed. And I live in the desert so no chance of getting snowed in... What am I to do with all my freeze dried food now!? :rotfl::rotfl:

G-Ma, I have never heard of a weight. I'll have to look into that! Thanks for all your info.

Generali

milasavesmoney wrote: »

Generali, do you mean to tell me there are never going to be any zombies?? I'm just crushed. And I live in the desert so no chance of getting snowed in... What am I to do with all my freeze dried food now!? :rotfl::rotfl:

G-Ma, I have never heard of a weight. I'll have to look into that! Thanks for all your info.

Sorry to be the bearer of good/bad news. Still it's an interesting article I think.

FairyPrincessk

I can't remember who asked, but I also dry mint for tea. I don't have a dehydrator, so I do it in the oven. I pop it on 50C for a few minutes, turn it off and put the mint spread out on a tray in the oven. It takes a few days and periodically I put the oven back on. We have two ovens so this isn't an issue, although I did once swap it and forgot the next time I put the oven on. The minty smell soon alerted me. The variety I have the most of seems to be water mint and I don't find it has as much flavour as commercial peppermint tea. The other variety I have was planted from one of the kitchen herbs I got at Aldi. I think it is either peppermint or spearmint, and it dries with a much more robust flavour but doesn't seem to propagate as heartily--in fact it did not re-emerge this spring after two years.

grandma247

milasavesmoney This is the one for the presto 23qt. This is a good explanation of it.

milasavesmoney

grandma247 wrote: »

milasavesmoney This is the one for the presto 23qt. This is a good explanation of it.

Thank you!! And it's not expensive either. :T