Where Are We Now?

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since I've posted but as anyone who actually knows me knows, I'm not the most regular person in the world!
We've had a really good gardening season this year, I was pretty busy with food preservation. The Excalibur Dehydrator has turned out to be one of the best things I've ever had for putting up food.
I'm totally sold on dehydration as a food preservation technique and recommend it to anyone wanting to put by food from a garden.
I dehydrated a quarter bushel of green beans and they ended up in a quart jar!
If you are strapped for space or don't think you can carry several hundred pounds of canned food to a bug-out location, dehydrated food is the way to go.
Even if you aren't prepping for the "End Times", I highly recommend drying your own harvests or excess foods bought in season.
I've also been trying to get more artwork done as well, working on my graphite drawings and trying to keep sane. (Epic Fail!) LOL

What's going on with the economy?
I don't have a damned clue. I've read and listened to many commentators and I honestly don't think that many of them have a clue either.
The talk on the radio is all about recovery and "green shoots" and the recession being over, but over for whom?
Not most people. Not regular people.
It may be over for the elites, that top 1%, but for you and me, nope, not over.

I still recommend that anyone that can, please save as much money as you can. If you have some precious metals hang onto them. I haven't been able to buy any metal since it went up. Besides, the absolute most important possession you can have is going to be cash and food.
You ideally will want enough cash on hand to pay a year's worth of bills. Rent, utilities, car payments etc...
That's just not going to be possible for most people but do the best you can.
your mortgage and things like car payments will remain the same even if the dollar collapses. If you have a $500.00 house payment, it should stay at $500.00 even if the dollar is worthless. So save some dollars.
You know, change has more actual value than paper money?
Change is at least worth the metal it's made out of so another thing you should have is a bucket of change!
Polish up your piggie band and start saving.
I was wanting to post a list of supplies for a family of 2 for one year and have had a heck of a time getting it together. There are so many variables and much depends on what people like to eat and what is available in their area and whether or not they will be gardening.
For just basic supplies, think flour and meal.
we want to get about 50-100 lbs.
sugar another 100 lbs.
rice 50 lbs
beans 50 lbs
salt 10 lbs and more if you use salt in pickling and brined foods.
we have a lot more than 10 lbs. Salt is cheap and won't go bad in storage. You can also use it to trade if it should come to that. Oh, and unless you have a salt mine in your backyard, it's not renewable.
I also like to have plenty of pasta onhand.
relatively inexpensive, easy to store and will keep a long time if stored properly.
Last night, I just put up about 18 lbs. of fettucinni in a couple big over sized plastic jugs.
we have about 50 lbs of dried pasta in buckets and jugs.

You'll want spices like pepper or cinnamon, things you use normally.

The best way to approach food stocking is to think of it this way.
We're not stocking up for the end of the world, because we aren't but, we're stocking up for the end of "our" world.
For instance, job loss, illness or injury, sudden unexpected loss of income for any reason could put you in a position where you could definitely use a break from grocery shopping.
With so many people being laid off from their jobs, think of what a God send it would be to have a year's supply of food at the ready and not have that to worry about.
People used to always have plenty of food stocked up.
They grew food in the summer, ate and preserved from what they produced and preserved enough to carry them through to the next harvest. We have become dangerously accustomed to being able to just run to the grocery store at the slightest whim, day or night, and be able to buy whatever we wanted as long as we could afford it.
I say dangerous because it is. It is terribly dangerous to have build our lives around just-in-time food delivery systems.

Another thing to add to your preps is some canned meats.
I like those little canned hams from the dollar store. I can slice and fry it and have some to eat with a meal and some left to add to soups or stews.
They are not terrible expensive.
Also, add some dried fruits and nuts and raisins to your food supplies. Remember, if you are trying to survive off of what you have stocked up, you also want high calorie foods.
Well, I'm going to go paint now, if I think of anything more for you girls I'll be back later. Now that gardening is done and I have more free time, I hope to be able to post more frequently and, if we get the camera fixed, to post some pictures for you.

be good girls,
love,
mom