CanuckOne - Member - The Prepared

Discussions

Reply to: Recognizing when it’s time to change how you prep Posted August 25, 2021

Great post! Over the years, I’ve learned how to can and use a pressure canner and food dehydrator. It’s absolutely critical to stay up to date with canning techniques. I don’t know how much bad advice I’ve read over the years, canning butter and water bathing green beans for example, but I have to say that if I was having issues with arthritis then the first thing to go would be the canner. Once that sucker is filled with water it’s quite heavy! The dehydrator would definitely be a keeper and you’ll have to tell us how the freeze dryer works out.

Reply to: Creating a prepping team Posted October 24, 2020

Good question. For myself, I live in a city suburb in a neighbourhood established in the 1960’s, I’ve taken to noticing as much as possible when I’m out walking the dog. Who has a fishing boat or a hunting quad, who has a green thumb, is that a ham antenna on that house/garage? Sometimes it’s really subtle things, a wood stove or fireplace being serviced that catches my attention and gets me thinking there’s a little preparedness going on. What I also notice is people hiring lawn companies, families with kids who seem to have a lot of activities but don’t ever pack up for camping, fishing, or hunting. I try to know what’s going on around me so I’m more aware of who might be approachable if things get crazy. There are about 50 houses on my short street and I’ve got three homes pegged for above average preparedness and one for medical help with below average preparedness. Two of the first three I made sure to chat with regularly and exchange contact info. One of those two also has law enforcement and medical experience. We’re friendly enough with the third but I don’t include them with my preparedness plans as they’re not physically capable people. They’ll be taking care of themselves and that’s about it. The rest will be liabilities requiring hand holding to get through. Other than that, when I’m on social media and I see, for example, photos of meals made from scratch, posts discussing weekend excursions, I know who has a good basic preparedness mindset. Make sure you don’t advertise what you’re up to too much. Ask how someone spent they’re weekend, ask about hobbies or work, notice as much as you can.

Reply to: Prepping’s lessons for quarantine Posted October 23, 2020

Have you checked out any of the fibreglass camper sites? It’s a lot like living in a van or on a small boat. If you want to find a community with a lot of ideas for offgrid living, I would look there. There’s one guy I know of who lives in his 13 ft scamp year round somewhere in Minnesota.

Reply to: The beginnings of a food forest… Posted October 23, 2020

I love this idea! I’ve been following permaculture sites on Facebook and started integrating fruit, herbs, and wildflowers into my home garden, along with the usual vegetables I put in every year. I think it was just after I read Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard that really got me thinking about encouraging more diversity. Why not grow according to the local climate, flora and fauna? As a child I was always taught to grow vegetables in long, straight rows, and the garden was just meant for that, we would load up in the car when it was berry picking time and head off to some mosquito infested forest searching for a clump of fruiting trees or shrubs to make jams and jellies. Why not pay attention to what biome you occupy naturally and work with it? Heck, I even leave some of the ‘weeds’. Pineapple weed, purslane, lambs quarters, and dandelion are all welcome at my place. Doing things this way forces a person to think outside the box when it comes to cooking and eating. It’s not a huge part of our food preps yet but it’s nice to know that we’ve got some variety to our diet just outside our door.

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Reply to: Recognizing when it’s time to change how you prep Posted August 25, 2021

Great post! Over the years, I’ve learned how to can and use a pressure canner and food dehydrator. It’s absolutely critical to stay up to date with canning techniques. I don’t know how much bad advice I’ve read over the years, canning butter and water bathing green beans for example, but I have to say that if I was having issues with arthritis then the first thing to go would be the canner. Once that sucker is filled with water it’s quite heavy! The dehydrator would definitely be a keeper and you’ll have to tell us how the freeze dryer works out.

Reply to: Creating a prepping team Posted October 24, 2020

Good question. For myself, I live in a city suburb in a neighbourhood established in the 1960’s, I’ve taken to noticing as much as possible when I’m out walking the dog. Who has a fishing boat or a hunting quad, who has a green thumb, is that a ham antenna on that house/garage? Sometimes it’s really subtle things, a wood stove or fireplace being serviced that catches my attention and gets me thinking there’s a little preparedness going on. What I also notice is people hiring lawn companies, families with kids who seem to have a lot of activities but don’t ever pack up for camping, fishing, or hunting. I try to know what’s going on around me so I’m more aware of who might be approachable if things get crazy. There are about 50 houses on my short street and I’ve got three homes pegged for above average preparedness and one for medical help with below average preparedness. Two of the first three I made sure to chat with regularly and exchange contact info. One of those two also has law enforcement and medical experience. We’re friendly enough with the third but I don’t include them with my preparedness plans as they’re not physically capable people. They’ll be taking care of themselves and that’s about it. The rest will be liabilities requiring hand holding to get through. Other than that, when I’m on social media and I see, for example, photos of meals made from scratch, posts discussing weekend excursions, I know who has a good basic preparedness mindset. Make sure you don’t advertise what you’re up to too much. Ask how someone spent they’re weekend, ask about hobbies or work, notice as much as you can.

Reply to: Prepping’s lessons for quarantine Posted October 23, 2020

Have you checked out any of the fibreglass camper sites? It’s a lot like living in a van or on a small boat. If you want to find a community with a lot of ideas for offgrid living, I would look there. There’s one guy I know of who lives in his 13 ft scamp year round somewhere in Minnesota.

Reply to: The beginnings of a food forest… Posted October 23, 2020

I love this idea! I’ve been following permaculture sites on Facebook and started integrating fruit, herbs, and wildflowers into my home garden, along with the usual vegetables I put in every year. I think it was just after I read Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard that really got me thinking about encouraging more diversity. Why not grow according to the local climate, flora and fauna? As a child I was always taught to grow vegetables in long, straight rows, and the garden was just meant for that, we would load up in the car when it was berry picking time and head off to some mosquito infested forest searching for a clump of fruiting trees or shrubs to make jams and jellies. Why not pay attention to what biome you occupy naturally and work with it? Heck, I even leave some of the ‘weeds’. Pineapple weed, purslane, lambs quarters, and dandelion are all welcome at my place. Doing things this way forces a person to think outside the box when it comes to cooking and eating. It’s not a huge part of our food preps yet but it’s nice to know that we’ve got some variety to our diet just outside our door.