Please Don’t Guestimate Your Family’s Needs
More food news this week that is not good. The olive crop is down, way down, only 30-40% of normal. How does this affect us? Probably not much. Olives and olive oil are ingredients in many foods but this will not affect our grocery bills as much as corn and wheat prices have. The point is that it is just one more thing. The next big hit to our grocery bills will be meat prices. Right now meat prices are down as ranchers are selling off their herds because of the increased feed prices. Once that sell off is complete there will be less meat on the market and prices are expected to soar.
I recently read an article in which the author encourage people to get food storage. Some of it sounded a lot like what we are doing, store what you eat, store a well balanced variety of foods, and store non food items. That is where the similarity ends, however.
When I was writing Mother Hubbard:What She’s Doing Now I tried to take a systematic approach to storing food. I hope you will seriously look at the plan I have outlined and follow it.
I have asked you to create a space to store foods before you begin shopping. This does not have to take months but can be a matter of just an hour or two of re-arranging a few things in your home and garage. The ebook has many suggestions so if you have not read through that section please go back and review it. You can also find some of the information in the “Where to Begin Food Storage” section on this blog. Remember your food needs to be easily accessible or you won’t rotate it. Preparing a space in advance also serves another purpose. It is a great boost to your commitment and such an awesome feeling to watch those cans and boxes begin to accumulate on those shelves. I love going in and looking at what I have accomplished!
The article also stressed the importance of storing non food items. We have spent lots of time talking about that not only in Mother Hubbard but also in the posts here and our Seven Steps. My problem with the advice in the article was to guestimate the amount you need. Please, please don’t do that. Isn’t that exactly what has been the reason for all the food and supplies that have ended up in a landfill? Medications expire and so does food. Know what you need. I have encouraged you to date items and then determine how much you actually use and then to purchase what you really need. Again there is a comprehensive list in Mother Hubbard and a shorter list in the Where to begin Food Storage section. The shorter list will help you to begin brainstorming the items you need to date.
Yes, time is of the essence, but taking the time to do things right will save you not only time, in the long run, but also money. That saved money can then be used to buy more of what you need to care for your family. Please commit to begin today.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6e91f5bc-c555-4a6e-afeb-9a41254926cf)
In your Mother Hubbard excel inventory you have a column for “where” each type of food is located physically. What do I do if I want to indicate that one certain type of food is in two different places? I’m not as computer literate as I would like to be.
That’s an easy solution. If you want to store sugar in more than one location you would just list them both in the sugar row. For example: sugar…kitchen cupboard/under guest bed. Just separate the locations with a backslash “/” or the and “&” symbol. Because of it’s bulk I have TP in several locations. If the column itself is not wide enough you can place your cursor on the right hand edge of the column and drag it making the column wide enough for all your information.
I have a question, and wasn’t sure where to ask it…. My husband and I, with our 6 kids, have been trying to get more prepared. 2 years ago he built a huge outdoor shed for an office, storage, etc. and we included a very large food storage room. That is the good news. The bad news is he never finished it (nor can we afford to in the near future) so while it has lots of nice shelving, there is no electricity or heat. It stays very cool in the summer, but our winters up north here are very long and bitter cold. Now that we have a substantial food storage, I am worried about certain items freezing over the winter and going bad. I know I can leave some things out there, but what would you recommend I move inside? Will the canned goods freeze and be ruined if I leave them out there? Thank you for any advice you can give me! I’d prefer to leave a much as possible out there, as we built it because we don’t have the storage room inside the house!
What a great question and how smart to think about it now while you still have time to prepare. I think this is such a great topic I intend to post it as a post next week so thanks and watch for it then. I want to make sure more people see it.
Now, in a word insulate. How?
1. Cover the floor. You have some time so if the floor is not already carpeted then carpet it. Don’t buy carpet. Do you know someone who installs carpet? If not, visit at the carpeting store. Ask them to either save you remnants or tell them you are looking for carpet that people are pulling out and replacing. You do not want carpet that has gone through a fire or flood or that has pet smells. Get as much as you can! Cover the floor with at least one layer and if you have extra staple it to the studs on the walls.
2. Newspaper is a great insulator. Use newspaper between the studs. You will want to roll the newspaper tightly are lay it flat. Crumpled paper will burn much more easily and will not insulate as well. If you are familiar with paper fire logs (rolling newspaper, soaking it and drying it to be used in place of firewood) these would work really well and would be like storing fuel at the same time.
3. Plastic. If you can afford to buy heavy weight plastic place this directly on the inside of the outside walls and then add newspaper.
4. Cardboard. This is also easy to come by. Ask the local grocery store if you can come by every day and pick up boxes. Cardboard can be used in place of carpet either on the floor or on the walls. It is also great to place on a window to cut down on drafts.
5. Caulk. I’m sure you have probably already done this but if not caulk is cheap. Caulk around doors and windows, then place cardboard in the window, duct tape it down further sealing the edge of the window.
6. Cover windows. Further cover your windows with blankets or plastic. Take a firring strip or 1/2 round or 1/4 round molding strip. Place the blanket or plastic over the window opening place the wood strip on top and nail through the wood. You will have created an air pocket between the cardboard and the blanket. That air space is important. It will act as an additional barrier cutting down drafts.
7. Lower the ceiling. If you still have open beams in the ceiling staple blankets, plastic or even carpeting to the studs. Again the air above is ok. Treat the roof beams as well as the ceiling beams. If you have enough cardboard you can place it between the roof studs and then lower the ceiling.
Be sure to move portable shelving away from the walls and cover the walls behind them and the flooring beneath.
All of this may leave your room looking very funny. Take pictures and just enjoy the adventure. In fact, please share the picture with us. You will be amazed how much these free items will keep the cold and winds out and help to protect your food.
In answer to your canned food question. I would leave any cans that are dry packed, rice, pasta, oatmeal,even chocolate chips will be fine. Anything canned in a liquid should be moved inside. If these cans freeze they will expand and the seals could rust or break destroying the food. All cans that are frozen will not be unsafe. If something freezes place it in the fridge and let it defrost. If there is no leaking and no rust the food is probably good. If you have any doubts toss it.
I hope this gives you some ideas. Please let me know what you decide to do. Good Luck!
Thank you so much for all of your helpful advice!! You are so generous to share your wisdom with all of us! On a side note, a “friend of a friend” in our area, who used to always dismiss any notion of preparedness (“because the grocery store will always be there, and nothing in America will get that bad!”)recently said she has the strangest compulsion to start storing extra bedding and towels and stuff. She doesn’t know why she needs to, just that it is vital! Interesting, huh! Thanks again.