Wednesday, August 26, 2020
When we came to this country in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, we were dumbfounded by the plenty of the land. Sturgeon and other fish swarmed in the rivers and the ocean waters were teeming with all sorts of food that was overfished in the Old World for a century or more. The European forests were long gone and here in America, as it said in a documentary about Columbus on TV, a squirill could go from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi without ever touching the ground.
That plenty ruined us. We deforested here faster than we had in Europe. We built large wooden houses with 8 ot 9 fireplaces that we stoked from September to June and keeping room or Summer kitchens burned wood year round. Waste, Waste, Waste. And we continue the waste today. One saving grace for wood heat is that eventually forests have the potential of growing up again, thus sequestering carbon in the new wood growth.
New forests regrowing from the old have a slight problem though.
When they regrow, the trees tend to bolt up fast and close together. While this makes nice straight planks and beams, the wood that grows that fast is much weaker and more featureless than old growth wood. This is a minor problem when you are just trying to get wood to grow for the woodstove.
But there is a problem in all this for the minor land owner. We cannot all have fifty or a hundred acres at our disposal. And, invasion by deer and neighbors' livestock can be tough on your land.
If a deer wants to get to your gardens....weeellllll they will do it no matter what. But simple measures may make them and the neighbor's goats say to themselves..."Hey that land over there is a little easier to get to so why work at getting to this land".
If, like me, you have a few acres, you will probably have to buy your wood. Here, cut and split is about $240 a cord delivered. So, it is probably wise to supplement it when you can.
After you have cut your property, then what. 20 years have to go by to get the next cut? In Italy, where they are not as cold as here, they heat rooms and sometimes whole houses with vine trimmings. Wood is available in bundles of sticks...Here we chip the small stuff and use it for mulch!
One of the most maddening things about that maple you cut down last year is that 20 slim saplings are going to come up from that stump. I cleared three weeks ago and they are already up 8 inches.
Instead of pissing and moaning, just let it happen, thin them out judiciously for baskets and Adirondack twig furniture and let the rest grow to a 2 to 5 inch diameter and cut them down again...dry and burn the suckers in your stove!
If you have a small place you might never have to buy wood again.
This is a basic Coppicing activity.
England has its own variety of trees and shrubs, but these age old practices can work with our own wood species. Willow, ash and maple will work very well for this.
Now, lets say you are clearing ten year old growth for a new house. Cut the trees down. Everything smaller than your thumb gets trimmed off and set aside. Cut the tiny stuff up for the wood range(in Europe a box is built into a kitchen counter and the top surface is a layer of tiles. A fire is lit under the tiles and you cook on them. Cook with pots, pans and just right on the surface like a cookstove. You can also lay the top surface with the same surface that an old cookstove has in place of the tiles. A flue goes out into a hollow stone wall or some other method of dispersing the smoke.
The small stuff can be used in a brick or clay oven in the yard.
Hell, we live in a country where we pay a fortune for wood chips to put in our BBQ to smoke our meals on a summer afternoon. Save all those apple trimmings.
All the brush and all the softwood trees can be piled in fallen domino style along the borders of your property...neatly... till the layers reach 6 feet or much more. Pressed down on itself and threaded between saplings or larger trees or even woven like a basket in the saplings along the property line. I certainly would not be climbing these fences that are as tall as I am and several leg scratching, balance defying feet thick.
Trees continue to grow up through the fence and as the old material decays, new layers can be added. Field stone that you do not want to use for raised beds for your garden can be heaved in along the base of this barrier to make it even stronger. Roots, stumps, anything really, will work into these fences. Also, you can take the cut up larger chunks of softwood and old fallen trees that may have few other uses and pile it onto the fence and along the base.
Another practice is to allow slim saplings to grow up in this barrier or in a new fence loacation. About four feet from the ground...always in line with the fence on only one side you notch the sapling trunk and carefully bend the sapling over parallel to the fence. Trim off most of the branches except those that point upward after bending. Then with a new sapling repeat this bending the new one over the last one slightly to hold the first one down...Like the rim of a woven basket. They can also be very close to the ground. the remaining branches will continue to grow straight up forming a palisade of saplings.
Now you can use this boundary to weave brush into a fence like basket work or just stuff brush into it along the fence line between saplings.
The larger wood from your clearing can now be cut for stove wood. Perhaps not enormous, but certainly good wood...possibly no larger that your arms.
This has the advantage of being easy to handle and it dries very quickly. Pehaps this can be burned the same year. Ash can be burned in the first year in any form. The smaller the faster and also hotter burning.
Coppiced wood has many uses and is a worthwhile investment of your time.
Another thing is that; I often watch the men and women in my area sawing and splitting wood all Summer to have enough for the Winter. This is a tedious and heavy job...not to mention chainsaw loud and dirty, sawdust spewing work.
I love doing this pseudo English style kind of hedging and Coppicing work. Quiet..little stress...bucksaw and loppers instead of chainsaw (of course you can use a chainsaw) You do this work quietly and without strain. Your dog and children spend time with you doing this light and relaxing work (the dog will only take joy in the abundance of sticks available).
It is a ton of work...but lovely pleasant work without gas fumes and noise...and think of the money you save in fencing and in cord wood.
Eventually the piled and constantly renewed layers of wood form a raised mound of soil along your property lines that become refuges for small game...food animals like rabbits. It also becomes an inpenetrable barrier against all but the most determined large animals and people.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
A dirty issue!
You must stay clean! Dirty feet can lead to all kinds of health issues. You need to wash regularly or you could face skin problems by the score. Fungus can take hold in feet even when you do wash. You need to have some supplies that will keep you clean or learn how to make the equivalent for yourself. Not just for your feet. You would be surprised what can happen to all parts of your body if you are not clean.
Everyone would love to own a still I will bet, but even if you do not drink, you should learn how to make fairly pure alcohol for use as a disinfectant. You can use all kinds of fruits and vegetables and grains to make alcohol and vinegar. Both essential for life on you own.(Of course the alcohol is a real BITCH on an open cut, but there may be times when it is essential.) Vinegar for preserves and lots of health issues(I think that some of the claims for vinegar are a bit exaggerated, but who knows).
Make it from apples easily...just make wine and eventually you will get vinegar.
Alcohol is a good thing to have as a disinfectant in the case of cuts etc., and also for skin issues. Building a still is no great accomplishment. Fruits can be preserved nicely with alcohol and sugar...maybe some spices would help as well. Vinegar and wine can be boiled down to almost a syrup and is a pleasant sweet and sour, which can be used in fruits, cakes and many other sweetening situations.
Soap is just a matter of saving your fats from cooking and butchering. Lye can be made in an old stump full of wood ashes...You will do well to have a source of salt as well, for preserving and for soap making.
You will need large metal containers for doing laundry and many other applications. Stoneware crocks of various sizes will be helpful for all these activities.
Another cleanliness issue is your clothing. Doing laundry is a no brainer, but storing your laundry especially till laundry day is important. Do not keep laundry still damp from your body inside your living area if there is not a lot of air circulation. We are always thinking of sealing ourselves in a Tupperware container to stay warm or away from people, but mold and mildew will become rampant if you do not keep it dry or in an airy place. Health problems will soon follow.
These are all topics for research before you commit to a lifestyle away from people and civilization.
You need to find sources of all the supplies you will need other than ordering on the Internet...there may come a time when you will not have access to many of the things you take for granted.
I always recommend the Foxfire books as essential reading for anyone planning an independent life. Good luck finding them.
Everyone would love to own a still I will bet, but even if you do not drink, you should learn how to make fairly pure alcohol for use as a disinfectant. You can use all kinds of fruits and vegetables and grains to make alcohol and vinegar. Both essential for life on you own.(Of course the alcohol is a real BITCH on an open cut, but there may be times when it is essential.) Vinegar for preserves and lots of health issues(I think that some of the claims for vinegar are a bit exaggerated, but who knows).
Make it from apples easily...just make wine and eventually you will get vinegar.
Alcohol is a good thing to have as a disinfectant in the case of cuts etc., and also for skin issues. Building a still is no great accomplishment. Fruits can be preserved nicely with alcohol and sugar...maybe some spices would help as well. Vinegar and wine can be boiled down to almost a syrup and is a pleasant sweet and sour, which can be used in fruits, cakes and many other sweetening situations.
Soap is just a matter of saving your fats from cooking and butchering. Lye can be made in an old stump full of wood ashes...You will do well to have a source of salt as well, for preserving and for soap making.
You will need large metal containers for doing laundry and many other applications. Stoneware crocks of various sizes will be helpful for all these activities.
Another cleanliness issue is your clothing. Doing laundry is a no brainer, but storing your laundry especially till laundry day is important. Do not keep laundry still damp from your body inside your living area if there is not a lot of air circulation. We are always thinking of sealing ourselves in a Tupperware container to stay warm or away from people, but mold and mildew will become rampant if you do not keep it dry or in an airy place. Health problems will soon follow.
These are all topics for research before you commit to a lifestyle away from people and civilization.
You need to find sources of all the supplies you will need other than ordering on the Internet...there may come a time when you will not have access to many of the things you take for granted.
I always recommend the Foxfire books as essential reading for anyone planning an independent life. Good luck finding them.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Lets face it, You need fruit. Two servings a day they say.
Fruit is darned hard to find on the land. It would be a full time job finding fruit for a family if you had to forage.
For centuries people have been planting orchards for their own needs or for business uses. We all know the stories about Johnny Appleseed. What is not generally known is that he was a bit of a religious nut(but then religious nuts were well loved in the 19th century) and despite trying to make good investments in land as he tramped the wilds of the mid west, he died as a hired hand and virtually penniless. Throwing no stones...it may have been just what he wanted from life.
In any event his was a good idea, as apples are a fine staple for many ways of eating and of drinking in the form of hard and fresh cider.
All orchard fruits need care. Careful pruning, natural or chemical fertilizers, working the soil around them and keeping encumbering weeds and seedlings from coming up around them. They look idyllic, but they take work.
There are so many fruit crops available, and there are a million seed and plant companies sending out catalogues this time of year.
There are all the standard fruits: Pears, peaches, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, currents and gooseberries(where legal) and rhubarb(Kind of a half fruit).
There are also some unusual fruits that should be considered. Dwarf Nanking cherries, Gogi berries, Lingon Berries, persimmons, apricots, etc., etc., etc.. Many of these unusual fruits could thrive in your area. Be very careful and ask a multitude of questions about what will survive in your area. In the north, you may find that stone fruits that say they will do well in your area may be fine for several years then need to be replaced...frost at odd times, split trunks etc.. Do your homework, and ask people in the area what they have tried and what successes and failures they have had.
Remember that if there comes an emergency situation there may be no source of pesticides that make fruits practical to grow. You may be able to spray with cigarette teas till the tobacco runs out. But the bottom line is that you need to be aware that your chances of growing pest free fruit can be pretty slim. My mother always said... "Just cut around them", when a worm was found in the jelly apples.
Study organic methods before you begin the work of putting in an orchard. You may be better off to form a community of people that will specialize in one form of agriculture so that you can trade amongst yourselves rather than trying to do everything on your own. Though everyone should have at least one apple and some rhubarb.
If you are up for preserving fruits, you may be able to get by with the easy fruits, like high bush blueberries for instance. My grandmother's pear tree stood and bore fruit for decades and decades with little care and few pests.
Beach plums and rose hips are a good answer to fruit shortages. Plant plenty of Rugosa roses and get into the habit of picking off the bugs by hand and washing them away with soap and water.
You can get fruit trees and nut trees(another source of free food) from any number of catalogues, but I want to mention just one that stands out in my mind for fruit, and especially apples. That is Fedco, based in Maine, they have a fascinating catalogue if you can get one, and the on line site is great too.
they are at:
https://www.fedcoseeds.com/trees.htm?listname=apples
and they have a separate catalogue for other trees and fruits. They are in black and white, but they are wonderful to read, not just to order from.
Keep in mind that most fruit trees may not breed true from seed, so you may wish to learn to graft trees. This is a fascinating art and will produce fine results for even the beginner.
Also remember that fruit trees may take several years to bear, and may take a decade to produce well. Start today! and start or graft new trees every couple of years so that as the old trees begin to fail, new trees will take their place.
Fruit is darned hard to find on the land. It would be a full time job finding fruit for a family if you had to forage.
For centuries people have been planting orchards for their own needs or for business uses. We all know the stories about Johnny Appleseed. What is not generally known is that he was a bit of a religious nut(but then religious nuts were well loved in the 19th century) and despite trying to make good investments in land as he tramped the wilds of the mid west, he died as a hired hand and virtually penniless. Throwing no stones...it may have been just what he wanted from life.
In any event his was a good idea, as apples are a fine staple for many ways of eating and of drinking in the form of hard and fresh cider.
All orchard fruits need care. Careful pruning, natural or chemical fertilizers, working the soil around them and keeping encumbering weeds and seedlings from coming up around them. They look idyllic, but they take work.
There are so many fruit crops available, and there are a million seed and plant companies sending out catalogues this time of year.
There are all the standard fruits: Pears, peaches, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, currents and gooseberries(where legal) and rhubarb(Kind of a half fruit).
There are also some unusual fruits that should be considered. Dwarf Nanking cherries, Gogi berries, Lingon Berries, persimmons, apricots, etc., etc., etc.. Many of these unusual fruits could thrive in your area. Be very careful and ask a multitude of questions about what will survive in your area. In the north, you may find that stone fruits that say they will do well in your area may be fine for several years then need to be replaced...frost at odd times, split trunks etc.. Do your homework, and ask people in the area what they have tried and what successes and failures they have had.
Remember that if there comes an emergency situation there may be no source of pesticides that make fruits practical to grow. You may be able to spray with cigarette teas till the tobacco runs out. But the bottom line is that you need to be aware that your chances of growing pest free fruit can be pretty slim. My mother always said... "Just cut around them", when a worm was found in the jelly apples.
Study organic methods before you begin the work of putting in an orchard. You may be better off to form a community of people that will specialize in one form of agriculture so that you can trade amongst yourselves rather than trying to do everything on your own. Though everyone should have at least one apple and some rhubarb.
If you are up for preserving fruits, you may be able to get by with the easy fruits, like high bush blueberries for instance. My grandmother's pear tree stood and bore fruit for decades and decades with little care and few pests.
Beach plums and rose hips are a good answer to fruit shortages. Plant plenty of Rugosa roses and get into the habit of picking off the bugs by hand and washing them away with soap and water.
You can get fruit trees and nut trees(another source of free food) from any number of catalogues, but I want to mention just one that stands out in my mind for fruit, and especially apples. That is Fedco, based in Maine, they have a fascinating catalogue if you can get one, and the on line site is great too.
they are at:
https://www.fedcoseeds.com/trees.htm?listname=apples
and they have a separate catalogue for other trees and fruits. They are in black and white, but they are wonderful to read, not just to order from.
Keep in mind that most fruit trees may not breed true from seed, so you may wish to learn to graft trees. This is a fascinating art and will produce fine results for even the beginner.
Also remember that fruit trees may take several years to bear, and may take a decade to produce well. Start today! and start or graft new trees every couple of years so that as the old trees begin to fail, new trees will take their place.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Clay Ovens and Other Ways to Cook in an Off Grid Location
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0foHjPVbP4
Here is a great link for beginning an outdoor oven and perhaps forming the seeds for a complete off grid kitchen, while leaving room in your house for other activities or for a smaller kitchen. Explore the other videos by this source and search for similar topics using brick and for more mainland European versions, like pizza ovens and open grilling over coals.
Here is a great link for beginning an outdoor oven and perhaps forming the seeds for a complete off grid kitchen, while leaving room in your house for other activities or for a smaller kitchen. Explore the other videos by this source and search for similar topics using brick and for more mainland European versions, like pizza ovens and open grilling over coals.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Common Wild Food
Cat tails. Dig up or pull up cattails from clean wetland, ponds etc. The rhizomes are the horizontal fleshy root covered with tiny roots. Wash and allow them to dry. Peel them with a knife or a vegetable peeler. chop up and allow to soak in water. Drain when the starch has gone into the water. Squeeze out any extra. Alternatively, squeeze the rhizomes from one end to get the starch to come out the other. Allow the water and starch to settle in a bowl, then drain off and dry in the sun. Grind the starch into a flour. Mix with other flours to use in bread(this will not have the glutens necessary like Rye flour to make the bread rise properly without the wheat flour) or make cakes with oil or butter and flavorings of seeds and other organic foods and fry or bake like a thick cracker, or make pancakes from it. The buds(corms) at the top of the rhizomes, and the young shoots can also be cooked and eaten, though you may have to peel them as well.
Early man roasted the unpeeled rhizomes in the coals and squeezed the starch out to eat it or they just chewed up the fibrous insides till it went dry and then spit out the fiber.
You need a lot of these to make a meal, but then, there are a lot of them around. They also re-establish themselves fast, especially when you leave bits of rhizome in the mud. If you cut them down or burn them, the new shoots will come up and most of them will be edible and tender. Like leeks, when they begin to turn green they are already too tough to eat.
Dandelion leaves are at their best in the spring, when little else is ready to eat. They are much like Endive in taste. Collect the tiny leaves (yes, you can eat the bigger ones but they will be bitter and benefit from a couple of changes of water) saute them in oil or meat fat, bacon etc.,(do not be sqeemish about animal fat in survival situations as you need to keep the calories up. If you are working hard it will not hurt you in moderation...burn it off!) You can steam them or boil them as well. You can mix them with other early greens like fiddlehead ferns. They will give your food an added dimension that the plain greens will not have. Mix them(after steaming or sauteing) into goat or your own home made ricotta cheese as a filling with chopped bacon or other cured meats in tiny mince. If there are red or other peppers of any kind available, mince them very finely and mix in for color and either a sweet or hot accent. Stuff them into crepes or edible flowers if they are available at the same time of year. Stuff this or similar fillings into ravioli or big shell pasta or even into fried cannoli shells. You may have some dandelion available when the infertile flowers of pumpkin or squash can be stuffed. Mix the filling with egg if it is to be cooked. If you wish, you can use the flowers when they have the tiny squash developing on the bottom, but that is a bit of a waste as it will become a full sized vegetable in time.
Make a shallow pie crust of any size, even a cookie sheet or lasagna pan size. Mix the dandelion filling made any way you like into beaten eggs (along with other greens if you like) Pour into the half baked crust. Drizzle with oil or bacon fat, and bake till the eggs set.
Fiddlehead ferns.
Fiddleheads are the smooth moss green to emerald green ferns that come up in damp ground or along streams in the spring. They are covered partially with a thin brown paper, but they DO NOT have hairy or white or gray fuzz on them. Smooth and slightly glossy surface to the stem.
They are just snapped off at the base as they grow. Once the fern starts to unfurl, they are OK, but will not cook well and may disintegrate. Wash well and remove the paper while soaking in salted water.
We used to gather bags and bags of them every year. They were frozen and canned for later use, though we loved them and could eat them day after day when fresh. Sautee them, steam them or boil them. Mix with other greens or cured meats.
Any way is good, but some may object to the musty or boggy taste or smell at first. Well cleaned, it will be very faint, but still, it is there.
Make sure you know what you are picking. You can buy them canned. Just try a can so you know what you are looking for or take a good look at them when in the market to avoid mistakes. Even if you hate them canned, try them fresh as there is a world of difference.
You can plant them in your less than dry land or garden. They are an attractive plant in semi shade.
Other edibles in the garden or field include:
Nasturtium, leaves or flowers
Pansies and Johnny jump up
Acorns
Wild leeks and asparagus (you should plant Asparagus as it is free food for years)
Wild nuts
Berries
Acorns:
look at this video for good methods of working with acorns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28yYMb_RwBo
To be continued:
Early man roasted the unpeeled rhizomes in the coals and squeezed the starch out to eat it or they just chewed up the fibrous insides till it went dry and then spit out the fiber.
You need a lot of these to make a meal, but then, there are a lot of them around. They also re-establish themselves fast, especially when you leave bits of rhizome in the mud. If you cut them down or burn them, the new shoots will come up and most of them will be edible and tender. Like leeks, when they begin to turn green they are already too tough to eat.
Dandelion leaves are at their best in the spring, when little else is ready to eat. They are much like Endive in taste. Collect the tiny leaves (yes, you can eat the bigger ones but they will be bitter and benefit from a couple of changes of water) saute them in oil or meat fat, bacon etc.,(do not be sqeemish about animal fat in survival situations as you need to keep the calories up. If you are working hard it will not hurt you in moderation...burn it off!) You can steam them or boil them as well. You can mix them with other early greens like fiddlehead ferns. They will give your food an added dimension that the plain greens will not have. Mix them(after steaming or sauteing) into goat or your own home made ricotta cheese as a filling with chopped bacon or other cured meats in tiny mince. If there are red or other peppers of any kind available, mince them very finely and mix in for color and either a sweet or hot accent. Stuff them into crepes or edible flowers if they are available at the same time of year. Stuff this or similar fillings into ravioli or big shell pasta or even into fried cannoli shells. You may have some dandelion available when the infertile flowers of pumpkin or squash can be stuffed. Mix the filling with egg if it is to be cooked. If you wish, you can use the flowers when they have the tiny squash developing on the bottom, but that is a bit of a waste as it will become a full sized vegetable in time.
Make a shallow pie crust of any size, even a cookie sheet or lasagna pan size. Mix the dandelion filling made any way you like into beaten eggs (along with other greens if you like) Pour into the half baked crust. Drizzle with oil or bacon fat, and bake till the eggs set.
Fiddlehead ferns.
Fiddleheads are the smooth moss green to emerald green ferns that come up in damp ground or along streams in the spring. They are covered partially with a thin brown paper, but they DO NOT have hairy or white or gray fuzz on them. Smooth and slightly glossy surface to the stem.
They are just snapped off at the base as they grow. Once the fern starts to unfurl, they are OK, but will not cook well and may disintegrate. Wash well and remove the paper while soaking in salted water.
We used to gather bags and bags of them every year. They were frozen and canned for later use, though we loved them and could eat them day after day when fresh. Sautee them, steam them or boil them. Mix with other greens or cured meats.
Any way is good, but some may object to the musty or boggy taste or smell at first. Well cleaned, it will be very faint, but still, it is there.
Make sure you know what you are picking. You can buy them canned. Just try a can so you know what you are looking for or take a good look at them when in the market to avoid mistakes. Even if you hate them canned, try them fresh as there is a world of difference.
You can plant them in your less than dry land or garden. They are an attractive plant in semi shade.
Other edibles in the garden or field include:
Nasturtium, leaves or flowers
Pansies and Johnny jump up
Acorns
Wild leeks and asparagus (you should plant Asparagus as it is free food for years)
Wild nuts
Berries
Acorns:
look at this video for good methods of working with acorns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28yYMb_RwBo
To be continued:
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Nutrition Without or With Little Refrigeration.
How will you live without refrigeration? Well, people did it for thousands of years.
You can cool your food, not quite to the temperature that we are used to, but enough to prolong spoilage.. a bit.
Cut a hole in the side of your house away from heat sources. Build a box cased into the opening like a window frame, but extending a foot or 18 inches outside the house. Do not put a back on it. Hang a piece of cloth over the box to cover the sides and the open back of the box. Keep it wet, and as the water evaporates, it will remove heat from the box. Make a good door on the inside that does not allow room air to enter, and insulate the door to stop heat transfer.(Styrofoam) Hang a pail with a little leak in it over the box to allow a slow drip to fall on the cloth and keep it damp. Put a metal back on the open side in the winter, or build another one that is not quite so exposed on all sides to very cold temperatures, This will allow the room air and outside air to balance out.
I will have a very small refrigerator. This will not allow me to store perishables for as long as I do now. These techniques will help me with food storage.
Butter keeps pretty well in a cool place, especially if it is well salted. The milk solids will eventually go rancid.
Try making Clarified Butter. Heat butter just till it melts. The milk solids will sink to the bottom, and you can drain off the clear fat from the top. This is used in very refined cooking...it does not burn as easily as butter, and it is used in hot climates because it does not spoil as quickly.
Potted and salted meats are available in cans and home made. You must curb your use of salt though if you use them regularly. The salt content will KILL YOU! No salt in any of your food in addition to this, and you can soak salted things to remove some of the salt, changing water a couple of times.
Pepperoni and other preserved meats and sausages are good for long periods. Salami and any dry cured meats are good.
For Millenia, Salt was as valuable as gold, as it was one of the best ways to preserve food!
Hams have been smoked for centuries, as have fish fillets. Refrigeration is still good with them, but well smoked meats need minimal care for preservation, but chilling will always do them good.
Salt is used to preserve hams, such as prosciutto...never refrigerated, and Italy is a pretty hot country...cool is good though if you can do it.
Sun dry tomatoes and some meats, but meats must be done very quickly to avoid spoilage...hot, very dry days only and very thinly sliced food. Do not do chicken! Jerky recipes are all over the Internet.
Caves and root cellars will help to preserve foods longer. In my Grandmothers' islands, they used to hang meats and foods that require cool temperatures in their underground cisterns. Just build a box, waterproof it just to prevent dripping into the water, and suspend it from ropes.
If you have a nice cold stream nearby, fill crocks with food and lower the crocks into the stream. Do not submerge the cover unless the seal is perfect so as not to let in water.
Just covered jars or Tupperware are good for small portions, again, as long as the seal is perfect. Canning jars are good for this.
Crocks with loose covers could attract foraging animals, but that is a chance you may have to take. Do not try this in stagnant or still pools...Running water please...always cold and moving.
Storing milk is problematic. YOU DO NOT NEED MILK FOR ANYTHING. Even mashed potato is better with broth and maybe a bit of cheese. You are not a baby cow. But since you make butter, you will have milk, so it certainly will not hurt you to have it for some uses.
Learn to make cheese...hard, long storage cured cheeses last a long time. Soft cheese will last a week in a cool spot, but better if refrigerated. Both are really easy, and there are all kinds of sources on line for techniques.
Learn to curdle the milk with natural rennet.
If you are not killing a calf each week, old fashioned rennet is not going to be available. Also, where would you buy it after the end of society. There are cheeses made with lemon juice, vinegar and also with thistle juices(I understand). Search for rennet made from Stinging Nettles.
Preserve cheeses in ashes. Nut wood or ashes from grape vine trimmings are usual.
Once you open a cheese, cutting into the natural rind,...eat it...but you can leave it unrefrigerated briefly, tightly covered as with a cheese dome.. All these preservation techniques need to be done VERY CLEAN to avoid contamination.
Make Terrines and Pates. Salted, smoked, spiced and liquor soaked meat purees, layered with blanched vegetables and nuts are sealed in pretty layers of fats and bacon, cooked very low, and stored cool in a covered container,... cover while hot to seal like canning. Meats will last longer this way than just basic storage, This does not mean that they are preserved exactly, just prolonged a bit. Cut the loaf of meat and veggies into neat slices and serve on a bed of greens.
Many elegant foods began as country ways of preservation. This is not meant to be long term storage, just extending the storage longer than fresh meats. Again...WORK CLEAN! This is the origin of meatloaf that we do today...but great recipes will produce great food.
A nice layer of fat on top of a meat dish will help to preserve meats. Duck is often cooked extremely slowly in its own fat, the layer on top will keep it pretty fresh for a while, meaning that you could kill a duck every week or so through the winter and have a pretty steady supply of food. A goose also works as they are very fatty. Lard acts as a good preservative floated on top of food. Hard working people ate the fat in the past, but you do not need to eat it if it bothers you. Just scrape it off.
One thing to remember, our body does not need more than 3 ounces of meat a day, and you can live without completely. It is good to keep some meat in your diet regularly, because you can lose the ability to digest it properly if it is not eaten regularly. Who knows when you may have only meat to eat, so do not become a vegetarian..exactly. Legumes and grains mixed in a meal will give you fairly good protein for the day That is why a peanut butter sandwich is a decent meal.
Make your own fish pond on your property. Seal off the inlet and outlet with fine mesh to keep stock in...Also, use only native species of fish so as not to introduce undesirable species into your area. Running water is essential, with an inlet(or spring) and an outlet so as not to concentrate waste material in the pond. I remember ponds on my stepfather's grandparents' dairy farm. Water for the animals as well as fish.
Olive oil can be used for many things that butter would be used for, Bake cakes and crackers and breads with it. It stores well for a long time, especially if kept on the cool side and in the dark. (The quality suffers, but it will be OK for a while). There are many other sources of oils in the wild in North America. Even onions have oils in them. Use up Extra Virgin olive oil first as it will be more likely to spoil as it has more organic content.
Keep things in wet earthenware containers to evaporate like the cooler above, and chill the oil slightly.
If you have a kid in a pottery class in High shool or college, have them make a series of tall, straight sided cups. like large drinking glasses. a number of sizes will be useful. Fill the earthenware up with water, and lower in a bottle of wine, or a jar of any other food to be chilled. As the water evaporates through the pottery, it will cool.
All canned food will help with your preservation problems, but always use the liquids for something, and be aware of ingredients...keep the foods you buy as free of extraneous ingredients as possible. Beware of salt content and do not add salt to your cooking if these liquids are re-used. Better still, can your own food. The only problem is the seal, as replacement covers and seals will not be available if times are tough. Explore old ways of canning on the Internet.
Pickling is a good alternative as is preservation in alcohol. Again, use the brine for something, perhaps to make salad dressing or just to drink if there is little salt in it. Vinegars are good for you.
Keep generous supplies of grains and legumes available. Devote your growing land to both of these.
Together they provide you with complete protein for good health. The quality of the protein is a bit lower than meats and fish, but still exellent.
As mentioned elsewhere, you can grow corn, beans and squash together in the same field and in the same mounds or rows, though the variety of corn used to be a type that dried for meal rather than for fresh eating. They all preserve or last well. Oats are a good alternative, barley is common too. Beers and liquors can be made from the grains. Do not turn up your nose at alcohol, this is a good source of calories if not abused.
There are many things which are downright dangerous without refrigeration. Anything made with raw eggs should be avoided. Mayonnaise is a prime example. Potato Salad, Tuna Salad, egg salad, Cole slaw, all contain Mayo and will not be safe to eat after it is at room temperature for more than say...Half an hour. Make cole slaw with Hot pickling brine instead of mayo. The sweet sour mustardy combination is great and spoilage is not as much of a problem, Boil vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard seed, salt and pepper together, and pour it over finely shredded veggies in the cabbage family or carrots, onions and peppers. Allow it all to wilt a bit in the heat and then refrigerate.
Also, roast vegetables in the oven, and mix up a sauce of briefly simmered tomato and olive oil with a bit of vinegar...plenty of herbs and spices of course. This will last a week cooled.
If you catch a fish and string it on a stick to carry it home for half an hour, you are probably safe, or half the fishing world would have been long gone in their youth. On the other hand, once the fish has been opened and cleaned, it must be used promptly, smoked , salted or preserved in some delicious pickling preparation within an hour or so. Fish should be completely odorless, other than the fresh scent of the water it came from. Any fishiness indicates improper preservation.
Research preservation in olive oil. Many foods are done this way.
Fruits and vegetables will keep best in refrigeration, or in a root cellar, but do quite well for a couple of days at room temperature. Many fruits are dried for later hydration and use. Some fruits do not react well to refrigeration. Bananas and apples are not at their best in cold.
Eggs have traditionally been kept on the kitchen counter until used, but that was a time when various contaminations were a rarity. If you must do this, try to do it only with your own, impeccably hygienic eggs from chickens in a clean environment. Use them up as quickly as possible. Eggs an be buttered to extend their life, but it does alter the way they cook and limits their uses.
Condiments on the other hand will do pretty well without refrigeration. Many are heavily salted or full of vinegar and sugar. Still, once you have stuck your meat-covered spreader into a mustard jar, anything could happen. Mustard, catsup etc., are pretty well preserved in vinegar, salt and sugar. These are very easy to prepare yourself from dry mustard, either purchased or gathered and ground at home. Barbecue sauce and catsup are easy to prepare yourself from fresh tomatoes, and some are made with other fruit when in season. Peaches are often used in condiments, and you can make chutneys for use on foods, especially meats.
You can do tiny batches of these for use that day or the next. Again, if heavily salted or in vinegar or sugat rich base liquids, they may last pretty well.
Pasta is an excellent food for long term storage. Make your own from virtually any recipe that is recommended for drying, and it will last for a very long time if kept very dry. It can also be cooked and kept cool for several days till it needs to be eaten. Store with a good coating of olive oil to keep it from sticking together. The pasta may be mixed with a generous number of eggs and left over bits of meats and veggies and fried or baked as a cake in a nice heavy skillet(cast iron is best) and served in wedges like a pie.
Look for a German country recipe called rivels(I think) These are extremely easy!
They are simply 1 egg, and a cup of flour with a 1/4 tsp of salt. The dough is just mixed up till it holds together. They can be made into rough balls or flat ovals to boil in soup like a noodle. I have seen them quite large, formed with a spoon but also tiny. The large ones may have to cook 10 minutes. You can press them through the large holes of a grater, to make tiny ones. I have also seen them coating the mixer's hands and simply rubbed off the hand into the broth in tiny shreds. Thinned with plenty of egg or water, they can be allowed to run semi-liquid, through the holes of a strainer into the soup or water to make worm like noodles. Add herbs or cooked vegetable purees, like onion or carrot for variations.
You can cool your food, not quite to the temperature that we are used to, but enough to prolong spoilage.. a bit.
Cut a hole in the side of your house away from heat sources. Build a box cased into the opening like a window frame, but extending a foot or 18 inches outside the house. Do not put a back on it. Hang a piece of cloth over the box to cover the sides and the open back of the box. Keep it wet, and as the water evaporates, it will remove heat from the box. Make a good door on the inside that does not allow room air to enter, and insulate the door to stop heat transfer.(Styrofoam) Hang a pail with a little leak in it over the box to allow a slow drip to fall on the cloth and keep it damp. Put a metal back on the open side in the winter, or build another one that is not quite so exposed on all sides to very cold temperatures, This will allow the room air and outside air to balance out.
I will have a very small refrigerator. This will not allow me to store perishables for as long as I do now. These techniques will help me with food storage.
Butter keeps pretty well in a cool place, especially if it is well salted. The milk solids will eventually go rancid.
Try making Clarified Butter. Heat butter just till it melts. The milk solids will sink to the bottom, and you can drain off the clear fat from the top. This is used in very refined cooking...it does not burn as easily as butter, and it is used in hot climates because it does not spoil as quickly.
Potted and salted meats are available in cans and home made. You must curb your use of salt though if you use them regularly. The salt content will KILL YOU! No salt in any of your food in addition to this, and you can soak salted things to remove some of the salt, changing water a couple of times.
Pepperoni and other preserved meats and sausages are good for long periods. Salami and any dry cured meats are good.
For Millenia, Salt was as valuable as gold, as it was one of the best ways to preserve food!
Hams have been smoked for centuries, as have fish fillets. Refrigeration is still good with them, but well smoked meats need minimal care for preservation, but chilling will always do them good.
Salt is used to preserve hams, such as prosciutto...never refrigerated, and Italy is a pretty hot country...cool is good though if you can do it.
Sun dry tomatoes and some meats, but meats must be done very quickly to avoid spoilage...hot, very dry days only and very thinly sliced food. Do not do chicken! Jerky recipes are all over the Internet.
Caves and root cellars will help to preserve foods longer. In my Grandmothers' islands, they used to hang meats and foods that require cool temperatures in their underground cisterns. Just build a box, waterproof it just to prevent dripping into the water, and suspend it from ropes.
If you have a nice cold stream nearby, fill crocks with food and lower the crocks into the stream. Do not submerge the cover unless the seal is perfect so as not to let in water.
Just covered jars or Tupperware are good for small portions, again, as long as the seal is perfect. Canning jars are good for this.
Crocks with loose covers could attract foraging animals, but that is a chance you may have to take. Do not try this in stagnant or still pools...Running water please...always cold and moving.
Storing milk is problematic. YOU DO NOT NEED MILK FOR ANYTHING. Even mashed potato is better with broth and maybe a bit of cheese. You are not a baby cow. But since you make butter, you will have milk, so it certainly will not hurt you to have it for some uses.
Learn to make cheese...hard, long storage cured cheeses last a long time. Soft cheese will last a week in a cool spot, but better if refrigerated. Both are really easy, and there are all kinds of sources on line for techniques.
Learn to curdle the milk with natural rennet.
If you are not killing a calf each week, old fashioned rennet is not going to be available. Also, where would you buy it after the end of society. There are cheeses made with lemon juice, vinegar and also with thistle juices(I understand). Search for rennet made from Stinging Nettles.
Preserve cheeses in ashes. Nut wood or ashes from grape vine trimmings are usual.
Once you open a cheese, cutting into the natural rind,...eat it...but you can leave it unrefrigerated briefly, tightly covered as with a cheese dome.. All these preservation techniques need to be done VERY CLEAN to avoid contamination.
Make Terrines and Pates. Salted, smoked, spiced and liquor soaked meat purees, layered with blanched vegetables and nuts are sealed in pretty layers of fats and bacon, cooked very low, and stored cool in a covered container,... cover while hot to seal like canning. Meats will last longer this way than just basic storage, This does not mean that they are preserved exactly, just prolonged a bit. Cut the loaf of meat and veggies into neat slices and serve on a bed of greens.
Many elegant foods began as country ways of preservation. This is not meant to be long term storage, just extending the storage longer than fresh meats. Again...WORK CLEAN! This is the origin of meatloaf that we do today...but great recipes will produce great food.
A nice layer of fat on top of a meat dish will help to preserve meats. Duck is often cooked extremely slowly in its own fat, the layer on top will keep it pretty fresh for a while, meaning that you could kill a duck every week or so through the winter and have a pretty steady supply of food. A goose also works as they are very fatty. Lard acts as a good preservative floated on top of food. Hard working people ate the fat in the past, but you do not need to eat it if it bothers you. Just scrape it off.
One thing to remember, our body does not need more than 3 ounces of meat a day, and you can live without completely. It is good to keep some meat in your diet regularly, because you can lose the ability to digest it properly if it is not eaten regularly. Who knows when you may have only meat to eat, so do not become a vegetarian..exactly. Legumes and grains mixed in a meal will give you fairly good protein for the day That is why a peanut butter sandwich is a decent meal.
Make your own fish pond on your property. Seal off the inlet and outlet with fine mesh to keep stock in...Also, use only native species of fish so as not to introduce undesirable species into your area. Running water is essential, with an inlet(or spring) and an outlet so as not to concentrate waste material in the pond. I remember ponds on my stepfather's grandparents' dairy farm. Water for the animals as well as fish.
Olive oil can be used for many things that butter would be used for, Bake cakes and crackers and breads with it. It stores well for a long time, especially if kept on the cool side and in the dark. (The quality suffers, but it will be OK for a while). There are many other sources of oils in the wild in North America. Even onions have oils in them. Use up Extra Virgin olive oil first as it will be more likely to spoil as it has more organic content.
Keep things in wet earthenware containers to evaporate like the cooler above, and chill the oil slightly.
If you have a kid in a pottery class in High shool or college, have them make a series of tall, straight sided cups. like large drinking glasses. a number of sizes will be useful. Fill the earthenware up with water, and lower in a bottle of wine, or a jar of any other food to be chilled. As the water evaporates through the pottery, it will cool.
All canned food will help with your preservation problems, but always use the liquids for something, and be aware of ingredients...keep the foods you buy as free of extraneous ingredients as possible. Beware of salt content and do not add salt to your cooking if these liquids are re-used. Better still, can your own food. The only problem is the seal, as replacement covers and seals will not be available if times are tough. Explore old ways of canning on the Internet.
Pickling is a good alternative as is preservation in alcohol. Again, use the brine for something, perhaps to make salad dressing or just to drink if there is little salt in it. Vinegars are good for you.
Keep generous supplies of grains and legumes available. Devote your growing land to both of these.
Together they provide you with complete protein for good health. The quality of the protein is a bit lower than meats and fish, but still exellent.
As mentioned elsewhere, you can grow corn, beans and squash together in the same field and in the same mounds or rows, though the variety of corn used to be a type that dried for meal rather than for fresh eating. They all preserve or last well. Oats are a good alternative, barley is common too. Beers and liquors can be made from the grains. Do not turn up your nose at alcohol, this is a good source of calories if not abused.
There are many things which are downright dangerous without refrigeration. Anything made with raw eggs should be avoided. Mayonnaise is a prime example. Potato Salad, Tuna Salad, egg salad, Cole slaw, all contain Mayo and will not be safe to eat after it is at room temperature for more than say...Half an hour. Make cole slaw with Hot pickling brine instead of mayo. The sweet sour mustardy combination is great and spoilage is not as much of a problem, Boil vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard seed, salt and pepper together, and pour it over finely shredded veggies in the cabbage family or carrots, onions and peppers. Allow it all to wilt a bit in the heat and then refrigerate.
Also, roast vegetables in the oven, and mix up a sauce of briefly simmered tomato and olive oil with a bit of vinegar...plenty of herbs and spices of course. This will last a week cooled.
If you catch a fish and string it on a stick to carry it home for half an hour, you are probably safe, or half the fishing world would have been long gone in their youth. On the other hand, once the fish has been opened and cleaned, it must be used promptly, smoked , salted or preserved in some delicious pickling preparation within an hour or so. Fish should be completely odorless, other than the fresh scent of the water it came from. Any fishiness indicates improper preservation.
Research preservation in olive oil. Many foods are done this way.
Fruits and vegetables will keep best in refrigeration, or in a root cellar, but do quite well for a couple of days at room temperature. Many fruits are dried for later hydration and use. Some fruits do not react well to refrigeration. Bananas and apples are not at their best in cold.
Eggs have traditionally been kept on the kitchen counter until used, but that was a time when various contaminations were a rarity. If you must do this, try to do it only with your own, impeccably hygienic eggs from chickens in a clean environment. Use them up as quickly as possible. Eggs an be buttered to extend their life, but it does alter the way they cook and limits their uses.
Condiments on the other hand will do pretty well without refrigeration. Many are heavily salted or full of vinegar and sugar. Still, once you have stuck your meat-covered spreader into a mustard jar, anything could happen. Mustard, catsup etc., are pretty well preserved in vinegar, salt and sugar. These are very easy to prepare yourself from dry mustard, either purchased or gathered and ground at home. Barbecue sauce and catsup are easy to prepare yourself from fresh tomatoes, and some are made with other fruit when in season. Peaches are often used in condiments, and you can make chutneys for use on foods, especially meats.
You can do tiny batches of these for use that day or the next. Again, if heavily salted or in vinegar or sugat rich base liquids, they may last pretty well.
Pasta is an excellent food for long term storage. Make your own from virtually any recipe that is recommended for drying, and it will last for a very long time if kept very dry. It can also be cooked and kept cool for several days till it needs to be eaten. Store with a good coating of olive oil to keep it from sticking together. The pasta may be mixed with a generous number of eggs and left over bits of meats and veggies and fried or baked as a cake in a nice heavy skillet(cast iron is best) and served in wedges like a pie.
Look for a German country recipe called rivels(I think) These are extremely easy!
They are simply 1 egg, and a cup of flour with a 1/4 tsp of salt. The dough is just mixed up till it holds together. They can be made into rough balls or flat ovals to boil in soup like a noodle. I have seen them quite large, formed with a spoon but also tiny. The large ones may have to cook 10 minutes. You can press them through the large holes of a grater, to make tiny ones. I have also seen them coating the mixer's hands and simply rubbed off the hand into the broth in tiny shreds. Thinned with plenty of egg or water, they can be allowed to run semi-liquid, through the holes of a strainer into the soup or water to make worm like noodles. Add herbs or cooked vegetable purees, like onion or carrot for variations.
Friday, August 7, 2015
Preserve Fruit and Veggies
Preserving fruits and vegetables has been a problem since antiquity. Warm climates typically have food available in some form year round. Winter food crops are possible in green houses as well. Lettuce and tomatoes, possibly spinach are common now in the winter by importation as well as growing in green houses.
Root crops are typically available late in the season, and the unharvested ground can be covered with VERY thick mulch to keep it from freezing. Often pine and spruce branches are added on top of the mulch to facilitate finding it..and to shade it out to avoid a freeze thaw cycle.
Kale grows in the winter, and where it does not grow, you may experiment with just how long they remain good under the snow.
Other than root cellars, that are discussed elsewhere, foods can be buried. Cabbages are typically buried for winter use in the north. Potatoes are stored in potato houses in the north for planting and winter use, but they may also be buried. The one drawback to burial, is that if you do not look them over regularly, one bad cabbage may infect dozens around it. This is also true in root cellars and other produce and meats.
Read up on these techniques on line...The resource is good, why not use it.
You should start buying alcohol now. Look for sales etc.. Buy rum, brandy and vodka by the cartload and store it underground. Just keep the covers from deteriorating.
Very high proof alcohol is best, but you can use brandy, high proof rum , cordials etc.
Preserve fruit in alcohol. This is common all over Europe, I do not know about elsewhere. Do not be prudish about alcohol. There are plenty of calories in Alcohol, and more in brandies, Rum and cordials from the sugar. You are not doing this to become a drunk...though this is a danger in depression causing circumstances. If you are afraid to consume a lot of alcohol preserved things, just cook the product before eating it. Evaporate the alcohol in the cooking process.
Some cultures, like mine in the Aeolian Islands, cook fruit and wine down to a syrup to preserve it and as a sweetener.
Rumtopf is a German method of preserving fruit throughout the season. You start with the first produce in the Spring, macerating the fruit in bite sized pieces(or whole small fruit pitted) in sugar. 1 pound of fruit to 1 cup of sugar is common. Then cover the fruit with rum. Now, you can cover the rum with plastic wrap, but they did this for centuries without. I believe you can do this without sugar in extreme conditions as long as the liquor is strong, but the product will not be as pleasant.
Add more layers of fruit as the season progresses. Each fruit must be in the alcohol for about 3 months.
About half way through the summer, you may add a flavoring like Cinnamon, Star Anise or Nutmeg...your choice. In the real world after the end of days, spices may not be available. In that case, there are tons of herbs that could be used, though they may not be appetizing to look at. Anise flavored herbs and seeds are abundant in herb gardens. Chervil, Sweet Cicely, Angelica,Fennel seed, thyme, and others might suit you. The first time you use them, make a small batch in a small container to see if you like them.
It is not necessary to add more sugar after the third month, unless a taste tells you it is necessary.
This three month period is long enough for the apples and late fruits to be mostly used up in the fall, and you will then need variety. Pumpkins and squash will last this long as well. Serve with meats, on desserts, on their own like pickles, cooked or raw. Brandy is commonly used, and I like that idea best. Cook those into fruitcakes and muffins! Remove heavy skins from fruit by blanching briefly in boiling water and skinning them in cold water.
Each addition of fruit should have a weight on top, like a plate that just fits inside the container, to hold the fruit under the surface.
So, in your post apocalyptic world, where do you get alcohol and sugar. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to survive. Some fruits may not taste as good in maple syrup or sugar, but if you need the fruit to survive, you eat it anyway. Preserve nuts in maple sugar and syrup. Sugar beets are a good crop to have, and other beets and root vegetables can be used to make sugar...you just have to learn. Also, root crops may be very plentiful and easy to grow for this purpose and you may have too much for normal use. Honey would be usable, though again, you may not be happy with the flavor.
Making sugar is nothing more than grinding sweet things up, boiling to extract the juices and squeezing out the rest. Then boiling or evaporating the liquids till they crystallize, or use them as syrups. Grapes, and other sweet fruits will work, and wine that has produced even more sugar from fermenting will also boil down.
Make your own alcohol from grains of almost any kind, potatoes, wine, sugar syrup of any kind. Buy or make a still and watch out because blindness is a byproduct...I guess, of high alcohol content. But then they said that about masturbation too.
You cannot be prudish about alcohol. We are talking about survival here. However, you should know yourself. If you do not handle alcohol well, don't drink it. Do cook out the alcohol before consumption. THE BIGGEST THING YOU HAVE TO DO HERE, IS NOT TO MAKE THIS DECISION YOURSELF. YOU CANNOT KNOW HOW YOU HANDLE ALCOHOL. ASK YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY HOW YOU ACT UNDER THE INFLUENCE. YOU JUST DO NOT SEE YOURSELF WHEN YOU DRINK.
Now is the time to buy things like sugar, alcohol, containers etc.
Sugar can be bought in huge quantities, especially if you think that you will be going into this lock-down mode. Dampness will make it harden into a sold block, but it will still be usable. The big issue is water...it will dissolve, and ants...they love it. Keep the sugar sealed up completely, and high and dry.
Alcohol will last forever as well...Just evaporation and damage to the container will affect it. some alcohols will not be stable in taste, like wine and brandies that can be aged, but still the alcohol is alcohol. Seal it up, and if there is a cork, keep the bottle lying on its side. Alcohol sometimes evaporates over time.
Ceramic(stoneware) Crocks are great for storage and other tasks like Corning meat. Stainless steel is good, though even that can rust if improperly stored. Glass is perfect, but breakage is an issue....Are you careful? Of course the glass can be free, just collect it over time and store it away...wine jugs, demi-johns etc...glass candy jars and canister sets are ideal, but use wax or tape or fat to seal the top.
Fats(pure), unsalted.butter(best clarified), shortening, paraffin, meat fats that are carefully strained will all seal the surface of the preserves if plastic wrap is not available.
PRESERVING THIS WAY IS SOOOO EASY!
Making wine is another skill that is very wise to know. What do you do with fruits and some vegetables that are abundant and hard to store for long periods. Making wine increases storage time, and preserves the calories. Also, if the water may not be safe to drink, the wine will be. Wine, and beer(another good skill, though grain is a bit easier to store) were perrenial drinks in Europe becaause the water was very generally tainted. These provided safe drink. It is now an issue here that the water is less and less safe out in the wilds.
A by product of wine is vinegar. Be careful to make the wine well, or you will have a lot of vinegar.
Vinegar, though pretty acidic, can be used as a drink in an emegency, but it can also be used for pickling. Be careful though, because the acid can vary wildly and the preserving power will be affected.
Root crops are typically available late in the season, and the unharvested ground can be covered with VERY thick mulch to keep it from freezing. Often pine and spruce branches are added on top of the mulch to facilitate finding it..and to shade it out to avoid a freeze thaw cycle.
Kale grows in the winter, and where it does not grow, you may experiment with just how long they remain good under the snow.
Other than root cellars, that are discussed elsewhere, foods can be buried. Cabbages are typically buried for winter use in the north. Potatoes are stored in potato houses in the north for planting and winter use, but they may also be buried. The one drawback to burial, is that if you do not look them over regularly, one bad cabbage may infect dozens around it. This is also true in root cellars and other produce and meats.
Read up on these techniques on line...The resource is good, why not use it.
You should start buying alcohol now. Look for sales etc.. Buy rum, brandy and vodka by the cartload and store it underground. Just keep the covers from deteriorating.
Very high proof alcohol is best, but you can use brandy, high proof rum , cordials etc.
Preserve fruit in alcohol. This is common all over Europe, I do not know about elsewhere. Do not be prudish about alcohol. There are plenty of calories in Alcohol, and more in brandies, Rum and cordials from the sugar. You are not doing this to become a drunk...though this is a danger in depression causing circumstances. If you are afraid to consume a lot of alcohol preserved things, just cook the product before eating it. Evaporate the alcohol in the cooking process.
Some cultures, like mine in the Aeolian Islands, cook fruit and wine down to a syrup to preserve it and as a sweetener.
Rumtopf is a German method of preserving fruit throughout the season. You start with the first produce in the Spring, macerating the fruit in bite sized pieces(or whole small fruit pitted) in sugar. 1 pound of fruit to 1 cup of sugar is common. Then cover the fruit with rum. Now, you can cover the rum with plastic wrap, but they did this for centuries without. I believe you can do this without sugar in extreme conditions as long as the liquor is strong, but the product will not be as pleasant.
Add more layers of fruit as the season progresses. Each fruit must be in the alcohol for about 3 months.
About half way through the summer, you may add a flavoring like Cinnamon, Star Anise or Nutmeg...your choice. In the real world after the end of days, spices may not be available. In that case, there are tons of herbs that could be used, though they may not be appetizing to look at. Anise flavored herbs and seeds are abundant in herb gardens. Chervil, Sweet Cicely, Angelica,Fennel seed, thyme, and others might suit you. The first time you use them, make a small batch in a small container to see if you like them.
It is not necessary to add more sugar after the third month, unless a taste tells you it is necessary.
This three month period is long enough for the apples and late fruits to be mostly used up in the fall, and you will then need variety. Pumpkins and squash will last this long as well. Serve with meats, on desserts, on their own like pickles, cooked or raw. Brandy is commonly used, and I like that idea best. Cook those into fruitcakes and muffins! Remove heavy skins from fruit by blanching briefly in boiling water and skinning them in cold water.
Each addition of fruit should have a weight on top, like a plate that just fits inside the container, to hold the fruit under the surface.
So, in your post apocalyptic world, where do you get alcohol and sugar. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to survive. Some fruits may not taste as good in maple syrup or sugar, but if you need the fruit to survive, you eat it anyway. Preserve nuts in maple sugar and syrup. Sugar beets are a good crop to have, and other beets and root vegetables can be used to make sugar...you just have to learn. Also, root crops may be very plentiful and easy to grow for this purpose and you may have too much for normal use. Honey would be usable, though again, you may not be happy with the flavor.
Making sugar is nothing more than grinding sweet things up, boiling to extract the juices and squeezing out the rest. Then boiling or evaporating the liquids till they crystallize, or use them as syrups. Grapes, and other sweet fruits will work, and wine that has produced even more sugar from fermenting will also boil down.
Make your own alcohol from grains of almost any kind, potatoes, wine, sugar syrup of any kind. Buy or make a still and watch out because blindness is a byproduct...I guess, of high alcohol content. But then they said that about masturbation too.
You cannot be prudish about alcohol. We are talking about survival here. However, you should know yourself. If you do not handle alcohol well, don't drink it. Do cook out the alcohol before consumption. THE BIGGEST THING YOU HAVE TO DO HERE, IS NOT TO MAKE THIS DECISION YOURSELF. YOU CANNOT KNOW HOW YOU HANDLE ALCOHOL. ASK YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY HOW YOU ACT UNDER THE INFLUENCE. YOU JUST DO NOT SEE YOURSELF WHEN YOU DRINK.
Now is the time to buy things like sugar, alcohol, containers etc.
Sugar can be bought in huge quantities, especially if you think that you will be going into this lock-down mode. Dampness will make it harden into a sold block, but it will still be usable. The big issue is water...it will dissolve, and ants...they love it. Keep the sugar sealed up completely, and high and dry.
Alcohol will last forever as well...Just evaporation and damage to the container will affect it. some alcohols will not be stable in taste, like wine and brandies that can be aged, but still the alcohol is alcohol. Seal it up, and if there is a cork, keep the bottle lying on its side. Alcohol sometimes evaporates over time.
Ceramic(stoneware) Crocks are great for storage and other tasks like Corning meat. Stainless steel is good, though even that can rust if improperly stored. Glass is perfect, but breakage is an issue....Are you careful? Of course the glass can be free, just collect it over time and store it away...wine jugs, demi-johns etc...glass candy jars and canister sets are ideal, but use wax or tape or fat to seal the top.
Fats(pure), unsalted.butter(best clarified), shortening, paraffin, meat fats that are carefully strained will all seal the surface of the preserves if plastic wrap is not available.
PRESERVING THIS WAY IS SOOOO EASY!
Making wine is another skill that is very wise to know. What do you do with fruits and some vegetables that are abundant and hard to store for long periods. Making wine increases storage time, and preserves the calories. Also, if the water may not be safe to drink, the wine will be. Wine, and beer(another good skill, though grain is a bit easier to store) were perrenial drinks in Europe becaause the water was very generally tainted. These provided safe drink. It is now an issue here that the water is less and less safe out in the wilds.
A by product of wine is vinegar. Be careful to make the wine well, or you will have a lot of vinegar.
Vinegar, though pretty acidic, can be used as a drink in an emegency, but it can also be used for pickling. Be careful though, because the acid can vary wildly and the preserving power will be affected.
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