How to Use Your Long Term Food Storage Preps as you Consume Them

food storage shelves

You have spent a long time acquiring your extra food (and other supplies). You did this because it seemed like a wise thing to do. Being prepared to an extent. Just in case.

Being smart, many of you rotate through your extra foods so they don’t all sit there and eventually “go bad”. But this can be a challenge, and some foods are meant for “long term” storage – only accessed if and when it becomes necessary.

None of us wanted a situation to arise where we actually “needed” to dip into our food storage out of necessity. Well, here we are… This invisible virus called COVID-19 Coronavirus. The WuFlu. Whatever you want to call it. It’s an official pandemic. And most states have implemented stay-at-home “orders”.

Though there’s still food in the grocery stores, it’s limited depending on one’s location. However the bigger issue is the risk itself of going out to these stores and getting more supplies. The virus could be right there – just waiting to infect you. So why put yourself at risk? Answer: many of us are not. Because we’re sufficiently supplied to survive for months or longer.

Recently Mrs.J and I took a broad categorical food inventory of our food stores here at home. Although I have various inventories, lists, and even spreadsheets, I wanted to get a visual. A “feel” for the high level categories of food types that we have with regard to the quantities and caloric content.

In other words, since we are now restricting ourselves to our own food storage, I want to consume them in a balanced way. One day we’ll eat “this type” and the next day “another type”. For example, maybe it’s pasta & sauce for dinner tonight and then rice & beans with home canned chicken the next. (Rather than eating more of one category than another – perhaps because we like “it” better). Instead we want to draw down the inventory in a balanced way.

So, what are my own high level food categories that we’re attempting to evenly utilize?

Main Food Categories

We have lots of “little things”. But our objective was to look at foods that we have lots of — those which might be part of what you might call “staples”. The essentials that will provide significant contribution to our meals in general.

After identifying these staple groups, we will do our best to regularly consume them on a rotation plan throughout a given week or weeks. These are the general categories of foods that we came up with after looking at our food storage yet again…

WHEAT / RYE (breads, dough for ‘whatever’ pizza crusts!)
OATS / OATMEAL / GRITS / PANCAKE MIX (breakfasts)
RICE & Beans w/ canned “Cream of’s…”
BEANS & Rice w/ lots of things!…
NUTS (wide variety – snacks)

PASTA (variety of types)
SAUCE (home canned & store-bought)

BEEF (canned & freezer fresh)
CHICKEN (canned & freezer fresh)
PORK (canned & freezer fresh)
TUNA (canned) sandwich, tuna salad
SPAM & DAK HAMS

CANNED
– Vegetables
– Soups & Stews
– Ravioli varieties
– Beans
– Potatoes
– Hash

FROZEN VEGETABLES
– variety in the chest freezers

POWDERED MILK
BUTTER (frozen bulk quantities)

#10 CANS
– Meats freeze dried
– FD vegetables (variety)
– Fruits
– FD tomato powder (great for pizza sauces)
– powdered potatoes

READY MADE FOOD KIT BUCKETS
– variety of meals, pouches, long term packaged foods

SWEETS
– Cake mixes (yay!)
– Stuff to make cookies (yay!)
– Pie mixes (yay!)

COFFEE
– can’t forget that!
– and Mrs.J’s daily tea or two…

The Takeaway

We generally identified the food categories above as those which there are plenty. There’s lots more of things like condiments, spices, oils — all that complimentary stuff that tends to fill up shelves. But I was looking for big categories which we could then begin to utilize in a logical evenly distributed consumption.

Then we think of those foods in terms of planning breakfast, lunch, dinner. Although for us, we generally just do two meals a day – brunch, dinner. With a mid-afternoon snack (I like a handful of nuts). And of course the occasional “sweet” after dinner. Oh, and the intermittent evening vodka or bourbon ;)

If you are fortunate to have a large food storage inventory, you might look at it as we did. Many of you are presumably using your food storage during this time of pandemic. Just don’t consume all your “favorite” stuff first!

Hopefully this helps some of you as you dig into your preps…

86 Comments

  1. Large inventory or not, if you have something you got because it was cheap/on sale, and it is not your favorite…..not at all your favorite…suggest you make a point of eating some of it first, and planning to eat it at least every second week. It will make all the rest taste so much better, knowing you are getting rid of without wasting something you dislike.

  2. I am starting with the most perishable food first:
    fresh
    frozen
    canned
    dried (boxed, packaged, dehydrated, etc)
    freeze dried

    Some exceptions such as canned food I need to supplement my fresh veggies, fresh or frozen food that I am out of except in long term storage….

    1. Rough Rider…
      Yep, whole tomatoes are next on my list to take out,..and i have continued to dehydrate(mixed, string beans, sweet peas) vegetables from freezer. also some ground beef is set aside for quick meal use, other is set aside and will be cooked and dehydrated for recipes. Also am putting in extra bottles of filtered water in as space is freed up.to keep the light bill down.on an emptying freezer..
      also picking up anything available we can use for stretchers…or as a main ingredient…cheese sauce in a jar, milk in a box or powdered, ..

  3. We have our storage room set up for home canned stuff as well as store bought items.We try to work on a FIFO rotation by having our home canned items on one shelf run, fruit, meat ,veggies and tomatoes each has it’s own shelf. Looking at the shelf , we use from right to left. It makes for easier rotation .Our LTS items are accessed only when our “daily use buckets” are running low .
    We look at freezer space as short term storage.With a long term power outage we will be able to can most of what is in the freezers.
    Variety in foods will be very important in a long term situation. A meal at that time will be and should be an enjoyable event.
    This quarantine scenario we are in now is good practice time and a time to rethink our food storage system and make adjustments.

  4. An interesting undertone to the Article and Comments so far.

    Using the “Long Term Preps” always seemed so far away in the future. Now here we are considering or actually using our Stores, Deep Pantry, or Preps. Whatever we/you choose to call them.

    Seems nobody here trust what the “authorities” are spouting, 2 weeks, well that was a month ago, Easter, noooooo, maybe end of April, now maybe another month.
    Anyone remember the first prediction of July or August? So from the start 5-6 months is a wild guess. Use your imagination on what the “next prediction” will be AND how soon the JIT is going to fail.

    So, till now most have had the luxury of hitting the Store for some of this and some of that, except TP.
    Will that’s quickly going away with more and more “Stay Home” ORDERS, and how long till that goes south and it becomes a Martial Law Lock Down?

    OK to my thoughts on “How to Use Your Long Term Food Storage Preps as you Consume Them”.

    I personally use the Deep Pantry to resupply the Kitchen, meaning “Store what you Use and Use what you Store”. Now of course we all have those 50 cases of Augason Farms FD 25 year stuff…. Right? And of course you’re not going to cut into a 25 year can of FD Potatoes when ya still have 2 10# bags of Yukon Gold’s in the fridge.

    The goal is to keep a balanced diet going as long as ya can, as Ken’s Peanuts run out, I’m sure he’ll switch to those Almonds……

    I will also agree to weigh your own idea of how long this is going to last, how longer you can hit the stores, how is the Garden going to do, when will Bambi walking in the back yard start looking like Dinner?

    Sooner or later even those 30 cans of Peanuts Ken have stored, will dry up, end there may be no more for years……

    So yes, very much it is time to get our sh!t together start rationing the T-Bone steaks for a Hamburger, and really paying attention to the Dates you have your stores marked with.

    Start planning NOW for when the Feds say “1 year”, than “2 years”…..
    Think it Can’t Happen?

    Just my 2¢ worth.

    1. Dino;
      Not to worry about “how you come across” you’re doing well…

      One thing, please don’t say “when the lights go out” How about “If”.
      we do NOT want ‘Lights Out’. ever, think it’s bad now?

      I practice ‘Lights Out’ off and on for years….. is NOT something we want.

      1. Practice lights out right now. Storm just dumped a foot of snow and the power is out

        1. NRP, right no lights out, I’ve got most of 2deer from last fall and quarter beef last month plus untold vegs bread berries etc, in 2 freezers. Please leave power on!!!!!!!!!!

        2. I’ve heard(don’t know if it’s correct or not)that powering the
          freezer four hours a day with the generator will keep stuff
          frozen if it isn’t opened a lot.

  5. Just a note, I tried to purchase a standard size 36x18x72 wire storage shelf unit and they are out of stock. Even on Amazon. Think folks are really stocking up?

    1. Mrs U,
      Yep… more people needing more storage space… let’s hope they stick with it after this is over.

      Another thought, there may also be more demand from people having to set up home offices for who knows how long. For people suddenly working from home these storage shelves may now be holding their paperwork, records, etc… it may not be pretty but it may be the most functional option available on short notice.

    2. Mrs. U
      if you are still looking, check out farm supply stores (might be in stock for hay bales, equipement etc….Also check for stores closing/selling off equipment, etc

    3. Mrs. U
      I got mine from home depot. 70.00
      Better ratings than the Costco version. I got 2 and wish I would have gotten 3.
      They are great!
      PEACE
      MadFab

    4. Mrs. U
      Did you happen to check out Costco on line? Kmart if they are still in business, try on line. Not as heavy duty as the other brands but still did the job of supporting goodies we purchased at the base back when we shopped there.

  6. I have made up a quarantine cuisine menu/list from available ingredients and have offered that to family to plan out week (it can be tweaked)
    Also breakfast foods can be dinner too (nothing wrong with scrambled eggs for dinner)

    1. Fireswamp,
      Nothing at all wrong with breakfast for dinner.
      My grandkids call it ” grandma’s tired dinner”
      Mostly pancakes and eggs.
      Peace
      MadFab

  7. Another thing I do that seems to be helpful, I keep a food log.

    Basically a journal of what we’ve eaten every day. It’s helpful in a couple ways, maybe more. First of all it’s a record of what we ate just in case there are any medical concerns. If the doc asks what we ate 3 days ago I’ll have an actual answer instead of a guess. Secondly, it also helps with meal planning. Do we want stir fry? No I’m tired of that, we had it last Tuesday. Also, comparing your food log with your deep pantry inventory list you can keep track of how fast certain items are going compared to others and you can adjust your meal planning so your favorites aren’t the first thing to run out.

    Setting a monthly meal plan also works, but it’s very hard for most people to stick to it. I use both but if I only used one it would be the food log/journal.

    1. Grits, very good idea food log, I can usually remember 3 days or so, but I thought keeping track of what was pulled out of deep pantry is a very good idea!

  8. Slightly different approach. I am nervous about the lack of PPE for those in the food industry and other things that might be potentially affecting the supply. Could we see shortages?

    We are not going to stores, but are still ordering food from places that deliver(no contact, left like mail), and taking care to wipe it down/transfer containers, if perishable, and put aside for a week or so when shelf stable, prior to storing.

    Obviously items which are close to expiration will be eaten, but I’m not comfortable relying soley on our supplies right now. Too much uncertainty. Can’t wait to have some homegrown too.

  9. I divide our foods up as most here would do:
    long-term storage foods (grains, groats, legumes, rice in mylar/buckets);
    long-term storage foods (FD and DH veggies, fruits, grains, legumes in #10 cans);
    home-canned and commercial canned foods;
    freezer-fresh foods

    We are staying home, eating mostly from our pantry, freezer, or storage. We have no more fresh foods, except freshly foraged dandelion greens, apples, and about 5 pounds of potatoes. We also have freshly made sauerkraut I made back in February. By week’s end, I will have fresh greens to harvest from the greenhouse (lettuces and pac choi) but there isn’t enough ready for full side dishes yet.

    We are using foods from the freezer (meats and veggies). We are also using canned foods (home-canned or commercially canned), and pantry items like pasta, rice, beans, etc. We are also dipping into some #10 FD/DH cans: onions, carrots, celery, blueberries, peaches to substitute for the fresh produce we no longer have. Thankfully it takes a while to eat through one of those big cans!

    We still have regular milk (1 half gallon) and regular butter. When those are gone, we will be using canned butter and powdered milk for cereal, until the cereal is gone. At that point, we’ll switch over to oatmeal and more toasted breads or flatbreads.

    Most of our lunch and evening meals are soups (stove top), casseroles, stews (crockpots), and wok dishes. We have a few steaks, but those are going to be held for something special. I have cases of home-canned tomato-meat sauces for spaghetti, more for shelf-ready chili — while those items last. Three remaining cases of home-canned green beans, lots of quart jars of soup bases, bone broth, a few cases of home-canned beans (pinto, white, black), cases of applesauce I canned, jars of jellies, etc etc. So we have an assortment. Our main meal is in the evening. Lunches are mostly leftovers or soup, with an occasional sandwich or flatbread/burrito.

    The main focus right now is to continue having variety and in about a month, meals will begin to change out of necessity. We still have the luxury to have quite a bit of variety and ‘comfort foods’ right now. Soon, we will need to be more frugal as we tighten-up with the foods on hand.

    If we don’t replenish meats by Winter, things will get interesting. I can live ‘vegetarian’ (and have), but not my husband. And he has issues with beans, so his protein will need to come from eggs and meats. He can’t live without MEAT and we don’t have a full-year of frozen and home-canned meat. So he will have to hunt for his meat (we have wild turkeys and deer galore) because he doesn’t want to get back to living our true homestead lifestyle right now. So no more dairy goats, pigs, or meat chickens at this time. He’s been warned. I just shake my head…

    I have started an inventory of long-term storage foods that are being pulled for use. That way I don’t have to do a complete inventory of “remainders” after this pandemic-mess is over. At some point, these foods will need to be replaced. That’s the theory, at least…

    I mentioned “luxury” earlier. For most of us, our foods have provided us all with luxuries that our forefathers and foremothers may have only dreamed of having. Without a doubt, our shelves exceed the bounties of our ancestors and believe that we are blessed to have what we do.

    1. Modern Throwback,
      If you have sunflower (or grapeseed oil) and coconut oil it is possible to stretch that butter much further than you think… I make sun-butter and we use it on toast/ to season vegetables,, t o season the skillet so our scrambled eggs do not stick… as we normally use butter. In a pint jar,2 sticks of butter, 2 tablespoons well rounded of coconut oil…and fill to shoulder with sunflower oil (this leaves enough room to stir it – sit in a warm place until butter is melted and can be blended well..) Grapeseed is a sweet oil and works well, tried it with olive oil and that is too strong for most breakfast applications for us. a little more coconut oil will make it firmer and a little less will leave it easier to spread…
      High protein needs are hard to store for long term and at the same time ration out. Since we both have strict tolerance and multiple health issues Foods I like are no problem but foods my body can assimilate is another. toast and oatmeal is a sure way for me to be sick for at least 2 days., even with buttered toast…We are thankful we have fresh eggs, and now have some rabbits which give us fertilizer/soil and meat.
      The deer herds here are contaminated w/ wasting disease… not worth the risk…comparatively turtle, and snake both sound like viable options… yes, i have eaten and cleaned / helped with cleaning both… For snake the hardest part was getting past the idea of what it was… tasted like farm raised, free ranging chicken…Sounds like your DH needs to get on board with something for meat….there is still time to get meat chickens. young hens purchased now will be laying before Christmas.

  10. I do have a question for those starting to use the Long Term items…
    Has anyone tried the Dehydrated Water yet???
    Interested on the Product to rehydrating water needed and the final taste of the product.
    Thanks for the responses…..

    1. NRP.… I have been saving that to have with the Canned Air. You know, those cans of air some sharpie in British Columbia was selling to the Asian Tourists for forty bucks a can? Got me a load of those on Deep Discount.

      1. NRP…remembered hearing about the canned air, so thought it was a yuk yuk to mention here. Googled it, and Hot Dam. We all need to get with the program. We could all be selling dehydrated water and cans of air, and making a mint…

        check this out

        Here’s how 2 guys from Alberta are selling $300K worth of canned air a year
        Company started after entrepreneurs sold a Ziploc bag full of air on eBay for $168 US

        But Lam says the venture is no joke, and they’ve been doing about $300,000 in annual sales for the past couple of years through online purchases and retail stores in South Korea.

        Moses Lam and Troy Paquette are capturing, compressing and commercializing something most Canadians take for granted — fresh air. Vitality Air . If you want a laugh, check it out. Then take notes on how to make a easy buck. WOW.

      2. Beware of canned air. Someone gave me one and I used it on my computer when I replacing the keyboard. No battery, no charger and when I sprayed it on the computer it went zit and was dead. now I am using my kindle.

    2. NRP : Great stuff, I mix mine with a little “adult beverage”. Looked into my food storage room, all I saw was SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM!

      On a serious note, the article pretty much shadows our own preps.

      Sad to read about Boris Johnson of the UK, PRAYERS NEEDED-SO GIT TO IT Y’ALL!

    3. NRP,

      Broke out a couple of cans last week. A word of caution though, I rehydrated one out the tap and it had a definite whang to it. Rehydrated the other out of the Berkey and it tasted fine.

      1. Mr. Dennis, in the future please don’t post about your “whang”, this is a family web site.

    4. NRP, I’ve found it takes 1gallon of fresh water to rehydrate 1 gallon of dehydrated, hope that helps.😅

    5. The dehydrated water i got had the same taste as the water out of our Berkey,,,
      So overall it was a satisfying product, it is really light when dehydrated, but fast to rehydrate. Ours was Himalayan glacier spring water with a hint of sherpa,,, not sure what sherpa is,,,

      1. Kulafarmers,
        ” Not sure what Sherpa is”
        Think it would be not sure WHO Sherpa is.
        He is the dude who carries the stuff up the mountain for ya.
        Glad it tastes good. Could have been freezer burned.
        Peace
        MadFab

    6. Sorry NRP and all, I just bought the remaining #10 can stock in this country and China refuses to ship more of these life saving items for dehydrated water.

      But they do have an abundance of fuel tanks from GM trucks that have crapped out. There will be a slight flavour of diesel but not too much as mileage on these trucks is always low.

      1. hermit us:
        Darn you, was looking for another 6 pack of canned TP.
        Ughhhhh

    7. NRP, I have not tried it… however,There is a process to dehydrate your own water.. Danny from Deep South Homestead posted a video on it. Just type in you tube the channel name and dehydrating water, it pulls right up. :>)

    8. Saving that to serve with the canned unicorn meat (was going to buy that as a joke for a zombie loving friend) hubby refused to consider paying $20 (BTW currently averaging $50 a can on amazon) you know that old saying…a fool and his money are soon parted

  11. Like DaisyK and probably most of us, I am also going through fresh foods first, mixing in meats from the freezer.

    This article comes at a good time for me. Yesterday I was thinking that I need to start mixing in some meal options from the various components I’ve been accumulating. It will provide variety as well as getting our digestive systems used to eating foods we don’t usually eat that often.

    Like NRP mentioned, there’s no point breaking open storage items when you still have fresh you are using up. But, NRP, you bring up another really important point about duration. Relatively quick, or dragging on at length – or even morphing from a virus problem to a long term economic and social disaster. Hard to know how long all of this will go. So, I need to hope for the best but consume stores as though planning for the worst.

    I need to take an updated inventory that includes the add’l items we just brought up to see how long we can go if not one more item is acquired. I have a good idea, but I need to be sure.

    1. So Cal Gal;
      Pandemic – 4-6 months
      Economic – 2-5 years
      Sure hope I’m wrong
      Was going to say “Just my 2¢ worth”,
      But I’m going to hang onto the 2¢ HAHAH

      1. NRP,
        If we keep printing currency at this rate you’re 2c is going to need a major adjustment for inflation.

        Can get through the pandemic time frame as it stands, and am thankfully okay financially, but there’s no way I am ready for multiple years without access to add’l food supplies.

        1. If anyone is sitting on cash it may be wise to keep it in small bills.

      2. In the early 90s stuff crashed over here, took 4-5 years to really come back.
        IMHO
        This time wont be any less painful, in fact i would bet it takes a decade to get close to where we were at. At least here in paradise,
        The people who normally would come here, either wont have the money ir wont have the balls to deal with the hostile locals.

  12. Divide my food storage, at least in my head, into long term storage and deep pantry. LTS is grains, staples, most packaged for 25 year life, much in #10 cans. Oil/butter in freezer.

    Deep pantry is pretty much what’s stored around the place but not in kitchen cupboard. Eating out of the cupboard, pantry, fresh, and chilled/frozen. Could do that for close on to a year at this point. Since retiring to the farm I eat after morning chores are done and then again after evening chores. Learned that as a kid – the animals dependent on you get fed first. Every day is like a weekend – brunch and supper.

    LTS is for level 3 or 4, or when I turn 80, whichever comes first.

  13. Obviously folks are getting the message that things might get rough. Tried to find a bread maker to purchase online today. Almost all companies are sold out…

    1. Rickster,
      You are better off learning to make bread by hand, imho. What if you had no power for your oven? Do you know how to bake bread over a camp fire? You’d be better off buying a Dutch oven and learning how to cook/ bake with it. Just my 2 cents worth.

  14. We are still purchasing bulk supplies from a local supplier that offers pay online and curbside pickup. They push the cart to my vehicle and leave me to load. No going into wally worlds with other people. We decontaminate everything and allow it to sit in the garage for 10 days.

    At this point we are not even touching our long term stores. We are actually expanding. Worst case we do not have to go shopping for a very long time. Food is still plentiful in our AO. Everybody can go out and purchase food without issue.

    Like everyone has mentioned the virus is worrisome but what is coming after is the big unknown? War probably, that is why we are still buying. It will also give us the long term ability to help out family and friends. People are still only buying for 2 weeks instead of 2 months which is needed.

  15. DW and I are grandparents with three generations under our roof, including two grandkids, and another baby due in June (the husband – SIL – is deployed).

    Our strategy is simple: Stay away from anyone and anything that might sic the virus on us. No visits from friends, no shopping, rigorous social distancing, etc. The closest we are to get to a random virus is on the computer! Special concern for our daughter and her soon-to-be born baby.

    For this our plan is to go as long as we can without resupplying, which means making due with what we have. Its not a big hardship at this point: powder instead of milk, cookies instead of an apple, etc. Baby is due June 8th, so still a ways to go yet.

    1. Bogan,
      Congrats on the up coming grandkid! I’ll say a prayer for all of you, I’m sure it will be fine. Peace of the Lord be with you.

  16. We have not really gone into our food storage very much. I bought extra food saver rolls in case the gov or people in general make a run on my storage. A #10 can is easier for people to see and harder to make disappear than the same amount of food squished down in a food saver
    Bag. Old man doesn’t have the right mind set of being frugal with food yet. This to shall pass. He is almost out of oranges. We are mostly dipping into canned fruit and veggies until our garden comes alive. We splurged tonight with our last 2 tomatoes and 4 leaves of 1 wild lettuce plant and had blt’s.

  17. Have around 1000lbs of LTS on the hoof. All the others are expecting or have dropped a calf. We are working the pantry to start and will then dip into the LTS once it dwindles down in a few weeks. Starting with #10 cans and a few flour options to make bread as that is running low. Biggest adjustment will be for the little ones. No more snacks and will have to learn that cherry tomato’s are just as good as squeeze fruit. Actually looking forward to that reality.

    We decided to bake one treat per week. This helps keep the mood up and slowed the curve on the snacks. Lemon cake this week, brownies last week. Looking forward to next weeks surprise. My DW is an exceptional baker. And I am spoiled in that respect. This has been a great way to stretch the eggs we had in the fridge.

    4-6 months and a few of the bull calves will be ready for butchering if needed. Just the right size to fill a freezer. Listening to frogs, whipperwlills and cicadas as I sit in the pasture waiting on coyotes. Have to protect the investment.

  18. We are still going to grocery once a week because we must do that for our business. The spouse is masked and gloved when doing this as am I when I shop for our home. We also have some items delivered but the pricing has gone up significantly on many items (a bit of gouging) It has been difficult to get all items needed to feed our elderly residents. For years, we have done an ALDI run once a week for eggs, bread, and milk and a few other items along the lines of fresh fruits and veggies. Now they want to limit us to two items…problem is we are feeding 40 people!

    At our homestead, I will continue to shop for freshies and milk and ice cream while I feel somewhat safe. I am not shopping Walmart or large groceries, but do hit Aldis and another small market. I was shopping an Amish store, but I feel I am taking what she needs to feed her own family and group. She is having difficulty getting in much of what she orders.

    We generally eat from everything we keep for long term also. I rotate products and how we eat. Last night was regular dinner of meat (lamb that we raised) rice (store bought) and veggies (fresh) so tonight was stew. Once in awhile we have sandwiches at night. Tomorrow will be pasta with sauce and meatballs. It is sauce that I have canned. I generally make bread at least once a week but have been extremely busy so it was out of the freezer.

    I would like to note that we will be taking out a couple turkeys and several male ducks shortly. So they will be frozen and canned and made into broth. We are doing this because my feed store advised me that after my order arrives tomorrow, they will not be able to get pelleted feed for who knows how long due to shortages (something to do with flour). I had already been stocking up over the past couple months, but doubled my order for tomorrow as they said it would not hurt them to do that. Looks like the poultry are going to be rationed as well. They roam and eat all day, but the turkeys are lazy…and the male ducks are not needed other than one or two. I am concerned this shortage is going to affect other types of feed like dog and cat food too, or goat food. My goats can forage a lot, but my dog cannot. I have already ordered in a good supply for her.

    I am of the mind to continue to get what I can without shorting anyone else because I think things may go on for much longer than they want to let on at this point. And our area is calmer at this point although it is odd to see everyone wearing some pretty heavy duty masks and nitrile gloves. Most people cannot deal with even a couple weeks home alone so I believe they (those who think they are in charge) don’t want to get everyone worked up.

    At this point, nothing we purchase or have purchased in the past will go to waste. Our bodies are used to eating what we store.

    1. DAMedinNY and others….
      IF I was feeding 40 ppl., would hit every store in area on same day and get as much as possible avail from bigger stores. Do not neglect seasonings. Protein will be a premium… because of feed situation.Last month we needed increased feed and had to make 2nd run to get what we required.
      . I have been told nothing locally, but suspect will be needing to store more home derived feeds for my few critters.will make extra effort to put up more of our nutritional grasses and any grains we have available…for fodder options…
      . Contact has informed me,..some chicken (companies have cancelled?) orders =500,000 dead unhatched chickens due to come off in 2+ to hatch, +7-8more weeks… to grow them out….lots of chicken dinners will not happen from those chicks…3-4 meals per bird.. That is 1mil 500k meals…that can not be served. also… Dump Truckloads of eggs being dumped, no way to inspect, pack, and can not be sold.
      ..Beef markets being shut down, packing houses , (?have missing inspectors?) meat packing and processing is an essential business….so something is wacky.
      Those who “grow beef” know it takes time to have a steer ready for processing cow has to be impregnated and deliver a healthy calf, and it takes another year to mature to final weight…so almost 2 years. Every day someone has to attend the needs of that cow and calf… Ranchers can not feed their families on love of the farm… we must help them, find ways to buy your food as close to the source as possible.. every animal has a gestation and grow out time.. pigs about 4 month plus 7-9 months for grow out…we need to be making these alliances now….

      1. Just Sayin’, yes, we are seeing examples of the same here. My spouse says someone is screwing with us because why would you risk losing all this food that people need….inspection or not. Honestly, we cannot voice it current laws being what they are, but it may come down to our local farms feeding what is currently being “dumped” to those around that need the sustenance. This exercise of dumping good food is about control.

        The chickens are one of the easiest & fastest to grow out and maintain so they get priority, ducks are next. American Guinea Hogs are next as they are excellent foragers, need very little grain (peas mostly) but some supplements like humans. They do not require iron shots or other medications, birth on their own, no supplemental heat, like standard hogs…they are the next easiest to maintain.

        The goats will be a bit of a problem as they require selenium and copper regularly to thrive. They do a great job clearing unwanted plants, but the herd would be reduced if shortages exist.

        Lots of bigger cattle (and deer) and dairy around us so we do not bother to raise these…and we have goats.

        Both short term and long term goals need to be reviewed by all. There is a limited time to resupply if things turn for the worse. It is bad enough with things as they are right now.

    2. DAMedinNY,
      Check with local restaurants still doing business to find out their commercial suppliers. Their business is down and they may be able to bend the rules and supply food for your residents, if you’re willing to accept it in large quantities.

  19. My small freezer is pretty full so I am also looking at what I can take out and do something with. Hamburger – I can can it. Berries not sure if dehydrating is worth it or just start using them. Steaks chops can’t do much with. Shrug- dunno. I do have about 6 months worth of dog food. Transitioning him to mostly canned/kibble with some fresh.

    1. aka, cook the berries down and make a conserve from them did some blueberries, last year,… and it was wonderful…

      1. Would that be jam?? Yeah, could do that. I use them for smoothies right now. Believe that I have a couple gal. bags each of rasp, blue and blackberries.

  20. can make in 4-7 days from flour and water see you tube. can harvest wild yeasts from evergreen trees. there is also a potato starter.. I have not done any , but have watched the vids.(DOn’t like sourdough)

    1. Just Sayin’;
      Have had a “starter” for over 5 years…
      Nada better than a loaf of Sour Dough Bread.
      Seriously you should give it a try
      BTW add a slab of butter and some Apricot Jam… OMG

  21. Dino,
    We have already done that moved from 3 meals and a snack a day, to 2 main meals. Late brunch and what we call Lup-Per.. around 3-5..and a light snack sometime before late bedtime…we both have many intolerances.. but have none to green chili or gravy and biscuit.. a single pot of green chili, will serve 2(x2) main meals and supplement 1 or two more.(total of 6-8 )..can be cooked from basic supplies.
    We have some foods we can forage….. things that are going out of date? have extended that date with preservation measures ..ie canned goods can be dehydrated.. frozen can be dehydrated for moving to long term…..Garden preps are ramping up…just a little early. Plants in progress.

    1. What about second breakfast? Or elevenzies,,,,
      Us Hobbits eat at least seven meals a day!

      1. 7:00am – Breakfast
        9:00am – Second Breakfast
        11:00am – Elevenses
        1:00pm – Luncheon
        4:00pm – Afternoon Tea
        6:00pm – Dinner
        8:00pm – Supper
        Usually have a snack about 1:00am

        1. Kula,
          Keep this schedule up Ol’ son and you’ll be as big as I am I no time! LOL.( 6′-1″, 255#). Hoping my Springtime farm chores helps me lose a few pounds.

        2. If you squeeze a couple of those together you might have enough time for the required (healthy) 12 hours of sleep.

  22. – Our weather here is hopefully getting ready to stop freezing. Going through seed packets and discovered I have a mouse in the house. He went after a pack of mixed wildflower seed I had picked up just for kicks for the neighbors’ (“Why don’t we have the wildflowers like you have?”) front yards LOL. We have a mousetrap out, since the cats seem to have missed this one!

    – Papa S.

  23. Ken, you left out one of the most important foods. Bacon, how could you forget the bacon.

    1. It’s a subset of the pork category! lol.

      I have two chest freezers. Lotsa meat in there – including bacon !

        1. Excellent. The article simply puts out a concept. A template of sorts – to note the categories of foods which you have especially lots of… And for you, apparently one of them is bacon!

        2. Peanut;
          I agree 1000%, Bacon is a food category all on it’s own.
          HAHAHA
          I mean ya can make a Bacon sandwich using Bacon as the ‘Bread’ the ‘Condiment’, the ‘Lettuce’ AND the Main ‘Meat’ Filling… LOL

  24. My last trip to a grocery store was back in February. The thing I remember most when I couldn’t go to the grocery store after my DH passed away was how much I missed my fresh fruits and vegetables. Also fresh eggs which I get from my daughter as she has chickens. At that time her chickens had stopped laying for several weeks. Even though I keep freeze dried scrambled egg mix, its just not the same as I like a runny yolk from time to time.
    Anyway, first thing I did was buy lots of fresh produce as well as milk once I realized we were in deep doo doo. I used the last of my milk yesterday and I have four onions left. Next I prefer frozen veggies over canned, so I had also stocked up on frozen. I still have some frozen but getting lean. I also prefer freeze dried over canned. Growing up, all we got was canned as fresh was too expensive. At Christmas we would get an orange in our stocking as it was too expensive to buy the rest of the year.
    As a side note, a local dairy has started home delivery again. So I do plan on getting milk, sour cream, and OJ from them. Otherwise I will live on my storage.

    1. One of my Uncles had a dairy farm. I remember as a young person how they would deliver to our milk box on the porch. Maybe that will re-emerge…

      1. Ahh Ken. We had that when I was a tot. From toddler memory, it was a galvanized metal box with a flap lid, hinged on the back. Capacity was two glass, gallon jugs with foil/paper crimped-on seals. The jugs were reusable, yes we rinsed them well, then put them back out in the metal box for collection. Good memories.

  25. Small note for all out there,
    Have been consuming food items at BOL.
    Date on Peanut Butter was april of 2008 under refigeration, still good has not killed me yet.
    Made pulled pork out of Pork butt nad shoulder from 2008. freezer kept. was fine has not killed me yet
    Rice and Beans combo from 2005 Bucket kept, has not killed me yet
    Jelly from 2008 refigerator kept still good has not killed me yet
    Powered eggs from 2006 , still good, but taste and texture sucks….
    Powered milk from 2017, was good. saco mix and drink.
    Garden seeds from 2000 and 2006 and 2009 as of now 35% are coming up after being planted 12 days ago.

    That has been my experience so far. Everyone stay safe

    1. If you suddenly stop posting, we’ll know something you tried killed you ;)

      Regarding your powdered eggs, I too have experienced powdered eggs, powdered butter/cheeses will not taste very good after ~ 5years on the shelf. So for those who have purchased #10 cans of this type, you might want to use it / rotate it…

      1. LOL Ken, have venison from 2015, it is next… so….if no word i cashed in and was not the chicom19 even if they do report it that way….lol

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