For instance, a poster and I were discussing how long canning lids last. In my heyday of prepping, I bought 2 cases of Ball lids. I also bought a lot of tattler lids and have been enjoying learning how to use those. BUT I don’t know if I should be using up the Ball lids or if they will last.
And the rings on the tattlers, not sure about those either.
Nor how to best store any of them. I LOVE mylar and oxygen absorbers! But I don’t know if that’s the best way, or perhaps a foodsaver, or if they should be in my moist cool basement or in the drier, warmer house….
This subject doesn't really fit on any of the other weekly or subject-oriented threads that I know about. Sorry if I am stepping on any toes here.
Anyway, that’s the sort of thing I could ask on granny’s threads and get 5-50 responses! We could bounce around ideas and share any experiences we had.
So…here we go!
(I hope someone else will join me here, LOL!)
BTW, I’m now an East Tennessee Appalachian granny, so I figured I could start this thread – in memory of nw_arizona_granny.
I’m in. Need info for composting.
Prepping is great! We could actually solve most, if not all of our problems in this country if we just stocked up on piano wire. I can think of a million and one uses. And it can be reused, so it’s safe for the environment. Yes, this country sure could use some piano wire right about now.
When you’re canning jelly don’t throw out the pulp. Make it into preserves.
After you have the preserves, again, don’t throw out the leftovers. Mush the peelings and whatever leftovers around a colander to get every little bit and turn that into fruit butter. Frankly, I’d rather have fruit butter than jelly any day.
Hands down best videos on how to and the whys of food prep.
https://www.youtube.com/user/imstillworkin?feature=watch
marked,,,,,,
I think I used to be on this ping list, but looks like I’m not any more. Can you please add me? Thanks!!
Put me on your list please.
bump
wow, You guys are quick! I just posted this thread and haven’t pinged anybody. In fact, I don’t know who to ping! I used to have granny’s old ping list but lost it along the way. But I’m sure many of the posters aren’t around anymore, that was years ago.
Let anyone you know that might be interested we are here.
I'm not seriously into survivalism but it's a fascinating subject, and I lurked on this group for quite some time, learned a lot. I don't think I ever posted on it.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.survival
I get ideas about things I'm interested in, digging a well, putting in a pump, earthships, making water safe with bleach and outdoor distillation methods, solar, wind, all sorts of things on youtube.
Have fun. Your Ball lids should still be ok, maybe the rubber seals degrade though. My son was heavily into prepping. If you put enough thought into it, there probably aren't many fail safe methods. But anything is better than nothing.
Your canning jars you can put dry beans and other dry things like flour, corn meal, etc. I'd put them in the freezer for 3 days to "prep" them. That's what I do with flour I buy at the store. The Orkin man gave me that tip years ago.
Also look how Russians freeze things for the winter in Siberia. And the video about Agafiya (sp?) and how her family survived for years in an extremely harsh environment. They fled for religious reasons.
Those books about edible foods in the woods and plains would be good, too.
Good luck!
here we are, TIK!
I don’t mean to take away from your prepper threads based on recent events. This is more of a daily how to thread.
Please be so kind as to add my name to PING list as well.
Thankx
Just happened to read your post while looking up a recipe for pickled asparagus. Please add me to the ping list.
I’ve been doing a lot of research lately into ways to improve soil fertility without having to haul loads of manure. (In addition to not having much livestock, my farm is mostly steep hillside. The less that needs hauled, the better!)
I also wanted to improve the soil long-term, so it would only need a little top-up every year instead of lots of topping up.
I found some very useful sources, although I haven’t had the chance to test them yet. The first is the book series by Jeff Lowenfels. “Teaming With Microbes”, “Teaming With Fungi”, and “Teaming With Nutrients”. In these books, Jeff describes the ways that different organisms in the soil interact, and how some of them will mine the rock particles or bind to things in the air and render them into forms that plants can make use of. He also goes into detail about which organisms certain plants will form symbiotic relationships with, strengthening the plant, and in some cases even giving them immunity to certain diseases!
The other source is the Skillcult blog: http://skillcult.com/
Among other things, that blog has some of the most detailed historical data I’ve ever seen on the use of biochar. It also has some easier ways to make large amounts of biochar, which I’m already planning to incorporate into my farm. I have loads of crop wastes every fall, things like sunflower stalks or corn cobs. Burning it into biochar would be the perfect way to use it. And the burner described in the blog would be fairly simple to set up right beside the field.
I think the information in those three books and the blog would be useful to any gardener.
Please add me to your list.
Thanks.
L
I’ve used Ball lids that were over 20 years old with no problems. As long as they’re properly stored I don’t worry about it.
L
This summer I had a bumper crop of peaches that just seemed to ripen overnight. My DIL and GD were with me and I said we were just going to have to make jam. They were so excited because they’d never done anything like that before.
I was thinking prepping but they were thinking generosity and gave most of it away but that was nice too, it cements relationships with neighbors.
Thanks for starting this thread. I too miss Granny’s old threads and all the great info that was shared. My first experience with canning and dehydrating came after all the encouragement on those threads.
I’ve been mostly lurking the past many years, but decided to join the thread.
Great thread. Thanks.