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Reply to: California megafloods! New research, articles, prepping challenges, etc. Posted 2 days ago

I used to live in San Diego, near Otay Lake. You could walk across the dam and see the footings and ripped steel of the previous dam. The previous dam was destroyed by a flood. The blame for the flood was placed at the feet of a rainmaker, who coincidentally or not, was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Mother Nature decided to unleash the flood. If you read the book Seabiscuit, you will read the story of the humongus mountain of manure that was washed out to sea from the Caliente racetrack just south of San Diego in Tijuana. I remember riding my horse through dry river beds that were restored to living rivers in Bonita. California is occasionally visited by disastrous rains. It’s happened before, it will happen again. Knowing this, prepare accordingly. Barb Lee, formerly posting as Dogpatch

Reply to: Any advice on potato/root storage cellar? Posted 3 days ago

I really look forward to reading your updates! Even with only modest success in cooling our “cellar”, using storage techniques recommended in the book got root veggies through the better part of the winter. The trade off of not really being able to store a winter’s supply of fresh food is our ability to do “sheltered gardening” through the winter. Our climate is usually favorable to growing a winter garden, with protection from rain and occasional dips in the temperature. I’m frantically populating the “hoop house” with winter veggies at this time. We are able to very successfully store some veggies in insulated, unheated outbuildings. Well cured onions and winter squash keep really well, in drier, somewhat warmer storage. Potatoes actually last quite a long time in a corner of a shop building. There’s so much great stuff in that book, including recommended “keeping” varieties. Barb Lee (Formerly posted as Dogpatch)

Reply to: How to make the greenhouse cool in summer? Posted 6 days ago

Lime wash – what a great idea!!! Last year we used a powdered kaolin clay to spray our apples (pest deterrent). It coated the trees with white powder. We had a profound heat dome last June and the apples that were well coated suffered zero sunburn. Our tunnel is still a work in progress. It will have removable ends, actually one end will have a door, the other will be hinged so the top half can drop for air circulation. (we built one of these some years ago like that). We can drive our compact tractor/tiller through it.

Reply to: Any advice on potato/root storage cellar? Posted 6 days ago

Venting can definitely be managed. We use one of these to cool the “cellar” in winter, and one to turn a heat lamp on in the cold frame. The one in the cellar operates a blower that was saved from a Jenn-Aire downdraft stove. You just change the wiring for heating or cooling. Humidity needs some hands on intervention. We raise the humidity in the cellar (when storing potatoes, etc.) by sloshing water on the gravel floor, or with buckets full of water. But now that it is in use for preserved foods, a dehumidifier both warms and dehumidifies the space. thermostat

Reply to: Any advice on potato/root storage cellar? Posted 6 days ago

This book will answer all your questions. Root Cellaring We used principles in this book to create a partially underground space. We are in western Oregon, not nearly cold enough for a “real” root cellar, so the space has been committed to other types of food storage. That being said, it is maintaining a steady 68 degrees through temps in the high 90s-100s. In winter it will go down to about 45, with a fan and exhaust vents. If it was fully buried, I think it would probably maintain a temperature in the 50s.

Reply to: How to make the greenhouse cool in summer? Posted 2 weeks ago

If your greenhouse is covered with plastic film (there is excellent quality greenhouse film available), and design allows, you can roll the walls up and tie them. That is what we have done with our DIY hoop house. The overhead plastic actually cuts a bit of the sun, so feels slightly cooler than in the direct sun.

Reply to: Refrigerator / freezer alarm recommendations Posted 2 weeks ago

We have the odd seal leak anyway (came from the factory that way). I don’t believe the alarm cords contribute to that. Our newer freezer has one of these and it does not cause a problem.

Reply to: How much would you spend for a greenhouse？ Posted 2 weeks ago

We have a “new” hoop house, 12 x 40, and although it is DIY with mostly materials we had on hand, I think we’ve spent about $1000 on it so far. The frame is made from cattle panels (a type of welded rod, flexible fencing) and greenhouse film. It’s purpose is for unheated winter and spring gardening, keeping excessive rain off plants and gardener in a reasonably mild climate. Farmtek is a company that has a pretty broad selection of greenhouses and associated equipment. It really comes down to what you plan to do with it. The budget goes from row covers to scary expensive.

Reply to: Refrigerator / freezer alarm recommendations Posted 2 weeks ago

We have four of these little units going and have been using them for years. Two freezers and a fridge are in the pump house and are loud enough to hear when walking by. The visual display was critical in a 7 day power outage last year. It chimes intermittently, doesn’t seem to turn off until the temp goes low enough again. fridge alarm

Reply to: Climate change & gardening Posted 3 weeks ago

We had the opposite problem this spring…wettest spring in 80+ years, and that’s saying something for the Pacific NorthWET! Cold/cool temps to match, no possibility of getting into the garden until mid-June, and even then the clay soil wasn’t really fit to till. Fortunately, my husband had decided this spring to construct a replica of the 12×40 “hoop house” that we had some years back (having no idea what spring actually held in store!) We ended up having to forego some of the normal summer veggies like squash (season far too short!) but I decided to plant part of the hoop, which is intended for winter gardening, with summer veggies. I’ve had some unexpected problems, but I’m also logging some minor successes. Several things like lettuce and spinach are ready to pull out (expecting 100 deg temps this coming week), which will leave me with space to plant more winter/spring crops. The side walls on the hoop (greenhouse film) have been pulled up and tied, so additional heat isn’t a problem. We did get a good crop of buckwheat on the “outdoor” garden for tilling in. It’s really great for unlocking the tied-up phosphorus in our difficult soil. “Protected” gardening, as Johnny’s Selected Seeds calls it, is going to be a big thing for us. BTW Redneck, I now have a 40 ft row of Navaho blackberries from Ison’s, thanks to your recommendation. There’s actually a tiny handful of berries that have “set”. I should probably pick them to save the plants the energy for growth, but nothing stops blackberries in this part of the country! LOL! They’re a plague – my neighbors would think I’m nuts for deliberately planting them! Instead, I’m going to “bag” the berries in cheesecloth or something to keep birds or bunnies from stealing them. Can’t wait to taste them!

Reply to: FIFO can racks for the pantry Posted 2 months ago

We can’t keep up with routine maintenance around this place, much less take on new projects! LOL! I’m sure there’s a better product out there somewhere, but darned if I could find it.

Reply to: FIFO can racks for the pantry Posted 2 months ago

Yes, earthquake protection. I don’t think the tiedown straps would work well with “loose” cans like this, but for boxes, buckets and tubs, I think they’re great. They can be adjusted to be very tight. For the can racks, I think a 1×4 as a “lip” across the front of the shelf may be better at holding back a “flood” of cans…or maybe a 1×4 and a strap. It’s always something. Here the link to the racks. They don’t look like much but they shouldn’t take much of a beating. Also, they are built to stack.

FIFO can racks for the pantry

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Posted 2 months ago

Reply to: Cooking in a haybox – a fuel efficient way to slow-cook your meals Posted 2 months ago

I’m trying to up my hay box game, having purchased four soapstone fire bricks to use as “radiators”, like the old fireless cookers. Between the bricks and buying assorted vessels, I’d have been better off searching for an original complete fireless cooker. Still have to buy the ceramic wool for insulation, but the project is on hold for the summer. The biggest drawback is the amount of fuel required to heat the bricks. (The radiators make the cooker suitable for roasting and baking). I think the project is a bust. Ideas welcome.

Reply to: Cooking in a haybox – a fuel efficient way to slow-cook your meals Posted April 19, 2022

Forager, We’ve tried to critically examine the potential for energy savings with the haybox, but there are other considerations as well. One is preheating of most cooking utensils, not the least of which is the oven (electric in my case). If I wanted to bake that batch of cornbread in the oven, I would first have to preheat the oven to 400 degrees, which one might think of as 20 minutes of almost wasted energy while the oven does nothing but preheat. The pan of cornbread itself would take about 25 minutes to bake. To preheat the water on the stovetop took about 10 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes to boil the food before placing in the box. So overall, the corn bread took 20 minutes to come to a boil on a stovetop element, versus almost an hour of running an oven element. If I wanted to cook something that required LONG cooking times, like dry beans, I would only have the expenditure of heating the beans and boiling them briefly before shutting off the energy source and placing the pot in the box. But energy savings is not the point, so much as having an excellent cooking device that can be used indoors in a grid down situation, whereas some campstoves, etc. are not safe to use indoors. Additionally, the water can be boiled over sources of heat, like a woodstove, that are performing the function of warming the dwelling. Additionally, it doesn’t emit any odors that would attract unwanted guests. Cooking an additional dish in the boiling water container was a common practice. But you also have the advantage, with clean double boiler water, of having your wash water, for dishes or body, at a very toasty temperature after the energy was expended to heat the water to cook the food. If you want to cook meat and potatoes/veggies in one pot, you would cook the meat for a few hours, take the pot out of the box, add veggies, return to boil (which would expend very little energy) and put back in the box.

Reply to: Cooking in a haybox – a fuel efficient way to slow-cook your meals Posted April 16, 2022

LOL! I’m actually not a big fan of cornbread, but I’m enjoying gathering proof that quickbreads can be made without an oven, as long as you don’t absolutely need a crust. The use of the cans as molds isn’t my novel idea. Traditional steamed puddings and breads have probably been made in cans as long as cans have been made! (The famous traditional Christmas “Figgy Pudding” is steamed in a covered mold this way). You actually need that mass of boiling water to cook the food in the box, so it may not be practical to warm it in the oven while boiling the water on the stovetop. What I’ve read is that some dishes might be improved/finished by going in an oven after cooking in the box.

Reply to: Cooking in a haybox – a fuel efficient way to slow-cook your meals Posted April 16, 2022

Today’s haybox project: Corn bread. Batter placed in parchment lined Bush’s Baked Beans cans (fit my cooking pots). Two cans held batter for 9″ round pan recipe. Covered with aluminum foil and rubber band (could have domed the foil a bit). Boiled gently on stove 10 minutes, placed in haybox for 3 hours. Timing was guesswork. Taste test: Needs butter and honey!

Reply to: What’s worth canning? Posted April 15, 2022

I tend to prioritize canning protein (meat), and tomatoes, and “meals in a jar” type things (stew, spaghetti sauce). I dehydrate more veggies than I can, but there’s a learning curve when it comes to using dehydrated veggies. My story may change when this year’s garden comes in! Otherwise, I would prioritize those veggies that are of the highest value on your menu, and those that “can well”, like corn, potatoes, green beans and beets. I think frozen spinach would be better than canned spinach, and I’d say the same for frozen peas. Some veggies turn to mush in the freezer. Experience will tell you which veggies you feel are worth the effort. Enjoy your new experience!

Reply to: Cooking in a haybox – a fuel efficient way to slow-cook your meals Posted April 15, 2022

I recently bought a good sized double boiler to try in the haybox. The upper pot is 3 quarts and the lower pot is 4 quarts. I wanted it so I could have more thermal mass to hold in the heat, so I could try being more creative with smaller quantities of food. The haybox is a specialized boiling/braising/simmering cooking tool. I don’t think things like casseroles were too common in 1913. Yesterday I cooked a stuffed flank steak smothered in a spicy tomato sauce in the haybox. After six hours, the meat roll had an internal temp of 165 degrees F. So the extra four quarts of boiling water made a big difference. It all tasted good and the sauce was excellent over rice. I still want to try steaming some bread in the cooker, maybe make something like a casserole in the double boiler. After that I’ll probably put the experiment aside until I can begin a major redesign that will include ceramic wool insulation and soapstone firebricks, so I can use it for roasting and baking.

Reply to: News roundup for Tue, Apr 11, 2022 Posted April 14, 2022

I think a lot of the western wildfire problem is being way oversold as climate change, when it can actually be traced to millions of acres of beetle-killed timber, which is almost certainly a result of forest mismanagement. Driving over the crest of the Cascade Range can be a heartbreaking experience. Mother Nature is cleaning up our trainwreck by burning it down and starting over. Also, a lot of human property loss is the direct result of more and more people moving into dense forest areas. These are people who expect to be saved by services that don’t exist near them. Sound familiar? People that live in the middle of a kindling box should probably not be surprised to find themselves in the middle of a wildfire, yet they are. I think that a lot of natural systems, such as water cycles, were almost irreparably broken 150-200 years ago by the voracious overgrazing of western rangeland that is so fragile it was never able to recover. A relative of mine keeps blaming the California drought on government and environmentalists without considering that California is a desert to begin with, that supports a groaning overload of humanity on stolen water. He has a miniscule understanding of water cycles and blames the “desertification” occurring there on shutting off the water to agriculture and leaving the ground unplowed. Everybody blames cows for everything, but I believe that returning a few million acres to grassland and managed grazing could go a long way to restoring water cycles and ending droughts. But of course everyone’s following the red herring. I agree the PNW has its warts, and I honestly think that having a little homestead here is becoming an unattainable dream for many. We’ve considered moving away from the Willamette Valley many times, and now, in retrospect, we are VERY glad we didn’t cave to that impulse.

FIFO can racks for the pantry

FIFO can racks for the pantry

Cooking in a haybox – a fuel efficient way to slow-cook your meals

Learning to bake without an oven – some suggestions

“Micro-Prepping” for a visually challenged partner

Sanitizing the rain tank

“Tamper resistant” door lock

DIY 12V shower

Dutch oven cooking

‘Ten Acres Enough’ – A book on self sufficiency

Storing emergency cash in a car safe