While I have posted emergency preparation info on this site and the other website, I haven’t talked about specifics when it comes to preparing for food to sustain you after a catastrophe. Both the UN and US gov’t back in 2009 said there would be a global food & water shortage in 2020. You will need to know how to survive. Our parents and grandparents used to grow victory gardens during WWII. This is similar with what we need to do in the next 12 months.
You have also seen the global destruction ongoing if you watched those 14 short disaster videos I pasted on my recent post, “Bizarre Weather, animals and subsidences” which shows the destruction of crops and the disappearances of lakes and rivers draining down holes, probably into the tunnel systems our gov’ts are all drilling like crazy. They are creating the water shortage by turning the land into swiss cheese.
Due to the axis shift which placed the sun directly over the North Pole last summer, which also shifted our ozone holes where they are no longer over the ice and snow which had reflected the UV rays back into space… we suffered from heatwaves which brought temperatures exceeding 106F degrees in the arctic circle Canada, UK, Scandinavia, Japan, Russia and the west coast of California which is normally cooled by cold arctic currents along the coast which are no longer there. The UV rays are killing crops and people and causing deadly heatwaves baking us like a microwave oven and destroying the food crops. The poorly maintained PG&E electrical and gas infrastructures are said to have caused most of the horrific wildfires in California but Canada and other locations such as Russia have also been besieged with deadly wildfires destroying massive amounts of land and homes.
This also affects the weather which would bring rain to California. Now the countries main source of produce is burning up under UV rays and wildfires. Those UV rays destroy plants and cause deadly sun strokes in people and animals. Rivers and lakes are disappearing down subsidence holes which are no doubt draining into those hundreds of tunnels the governments are drilling to create their access between their shelters, military bases and major cities. These are not to benefit any of us. Their shelters are filled with stolen food and donations from FEMA and Red Cross for the politicians and the elite. We will be corralled by the National Guard and Military under Martial Law. We wont be invited into the shelters. They will corral us into large convention centers like Katrina; with no food, water, medicine or necessities until we die and are too weak to fight back for our freedom. We outnumber them. They can only shoot so many as we fight back as long as we don’t wait until we are starving and weak to do so. You will know within the first two days whether you are going to be fed and watered and receive medical care. That is when you should plan your immediate escape. You wont be able to make a mass escape if you wait until you are weakened without food and water.
If we have a food shortage or a calamity or the infrastructure breaks down if the food is no longer trucked to our stores, then we will have to fend for ourselves. If we grow our own foods and the cataclysms don’t occur, you would still benefit from having fresh foods without pesticides or hormones or antibiotics or herbicides on them. Your health might improve. I would be happy eating tomato sandwiches every day. I did that when I was 18 or 19 and planted 36 giant tomato plants. I had no idea I would have to give them away in full grocery sacks because I had hundreds of giant tomatoes. These were beautiful plants. If you break off the suckers and tie them up on stakes (8 ft tall) you can have giant tomatoes if you buy the right brand. You can also can them to make tomato sauce or diced tomatoes or tomato soup. So be sure to have canning supplies. Tomatoes take less heat than other foods you can. So you wont need a pressure cooker for them but you will need a large enamel pot to can tomatoes and a pressure cooker for canning other things.
You can also plant fruit and nut trees and berry bushes and grape vines. Walnuts & other nuts are good for protein when you don’t have meat sources but can cause issues if you have diverticulosis. Cherry trees, tea trees, apples, peaches, pears, etc. If you don’t live in a citrus area you can buy mini citrus trees which can be special ordered from a nursery or catalog but you would need to grow them in a greenhouse.
I’ve been looking at greenhouses the last few days. Don’t look at Sunrooms because they cost two or three times as much for the same thing in greenhouses. Most decent greenhouses to place on your deck or patio or in your yard, are between $350-$800. But they have small greenhouses for $78 using cheaper materials such as plastic sheeting. The ones I was looking at are 6′ X 8′ or 6′ X 10′ and about 6 1/2 feet high with a roof vent, hinged door and twin wall roof panels included. Some have twin side wall panels but most are clear sides. They have heavy galvanized bottom frames and anchors to prevent them from blowing away.
Do not use volcanic ash soil to grow your plants. The plants may grow great in such soil but it is high in aluminum and called potash. You don’t want to have aluminum in your food plants or any kind of radioactive fallout or metals. You will have to eliminate at least a foot of top soil if your land has been contaminated with fallout such as Fukushima is doing right now and the problems on the land of Chernobyl. But do not believe for one minute that removing the top soil cures the problem of radioactive materials. It will not be safe in your lifetime or those of your descendants. They are currently lying to the Japanese who are actually farming the land in Fukushima and the US is purchasing their farm products which the very farmers who are growing it have said they would not eat it. I only mention this because when a catastrophe occurs and the secondary power backup fails for a nuclear plant or reactor, it is very easy for the containment building to blow off the top of the roof and spew radioactive gas, steam and smoke into the air. See more radiation info at the very bottom of this post below the greenhouse link.
You can grow plants on shelves and miniature fruit trees inside your greenhouse but make sure it does not get too hot during a heat wave or the soil too dry. You can grow mini citrus fruit trees inside your greenhouse which may not be able to grow in your area. The mini trees are less than 6 feet tall with full size fruit. An olive tree to make olive oil, soap, skin lotion, food, etc.
I thought about using a lean-to greenhouse against my back door but a full size greenhouse on the deck is more stable, better sealed against snakes and rats and has more room. Some of these greenhouses have gutters which allow you to capture the rain water to water your plants. You can get these greenhouses from Walmart online. Or go to Google, select shopping and search on the word Greenhouses.
I recommend the greenhouses should be placed on a smooth, level surface and preferably placed on a plywood floor and sealed to ensure snakes don’t get in… or rats. Place the outdoor, exterior glue plywood sheets crosswise for flooring. You don’t want a joint running down the center of the greenhouse. It won’t support the weight. So place them crosswise not lengthwise and anchor the greenhouse to the floor. Add this plywood floor even if you are placing it on your deck. Trust me. You don’t want snakes or rats getting in. Also, use 3/4 inch thick plywood. Anything less will warp or sag. Exterior glue is important. You can also buy floor runners to walk on. Lowe’s has plastic runners on rolls you can cut to fit. You will also need to buy some lumber to build a floor frame to support and connect the plywood if you place the greenhouse on the yard or patio. The floor should be done before you assemble the greenhouse. Perhaps when you use the bottom galvanized steel base frame. I built a floor for a shed years ago but despite being an excellent engineer, I did a crappy job despite knowing how to build an entire house from scratch without plans. The ground was not level enough. So the floor did not match and I made the mistake of placing the plywood lengthwise. I even used filler to level the floor and laid tile on it. Still a crappy job. Should have used roll tile rather than individual tile squares. Tongue and groove deck boards might be better if laid on top of underlayment plywood, as long as it is sealed. The greenhouses usually come with a vent and a door which are both magnetically sealed to stay closed. You can buy extra. The number of vents it comes with depends on the length of the greenhouse. A 6X10 ft greenhouse may have 2 vents included.
I grew the tomatoes from seeds the first time rather than nursery plants because I didn’t know any better. I had never been to a nursery where they sell the starter plantings for gardens. They didn’t have Lowes in those days. I also made the mistake of transplanting them to large mayonnaise jars as they outgrew the ice cube trays where I sprouted my seeds. The jars curve in at the top and get smaller where the lid was screwed on. I was growing these in my window sills for months because it was too cold outside. All the neighbors would stop to see these 3 ft tall tomato plants in the window with flowers in winter and then the small tomatoes developing as they started to bear. This was when I lived in Pennsylvania near the Susquehanna River much farther north than 3 mile Island and I moved away a year before 3MI occurred. I had the most perfect black soil to grow my garden. The only issue was the aphids on the Broccoli but I don’t like Broccoli anyway. My preference is Brussel Sprouts. The only plant I had trouble growing was celery until I lived in California and a section of the yard had flooded. The celery seeds I had planted a year earlier which never grew suddenly sprouted and grew under water. It had to flood like rice for celery to grow.
When it came time to plant the tomatoes outside, which were nearly 6 ft tall with young green tomatoes on them, I couldn’t get them out of the jars through the smaller opening where the lid had been screwed on. I had to take a hammer and break all 36 jars to get the plants out without damaging the roots.
(so if any of you are teen age or younger, trust me. You don’t know a lot of things you think you do until you have more experience. I had straight A’s & the highest IQ & still did not know better about things I had never done & was naive & easily fooled by those who hated anyone who made them look bad. Ever hear of a snipe hunt? There’s no such thing. I was raised on army bases in foreign countries so we did not own the houses we lived in.)
Someone showed me a better way to grow potatoes. I have all the books on how to grow vegetables & the regions, etc. But when I grew potatoes for the first time, I tied up the tubers to the fence as if they were tomato vines. I was Wrong! The potatoes don’t grow unless they are under the dirt. “The Martian” movie showed it wrong as well which was even worse because the character was an astronaut botanist. Actually a xenobotanist since it was mars. He was growing his potatoes under the ground and using raw sewage for fertilizer when he could have used left over meals instead.
The potatoes grow under the dirt. Not on top.
The best way to grow potatoes:
- Buy a new Rubbermaid 30+ gallon trashcan.
- With wheels & a handle so it can be rolled. Especially if you have a rock driveway like I do. Mine is filled in with smooth river rock. Much better than that awful calechi they used.
- Calechi is dried adobe. A white clay which looks like rocks but when driven on it breaks apart and turns to dust. If you are trying to drill a hole in the ground, the auger just keeps turning on the calechi and the hole fills up with dust and doesn’t go anywhere. You end up with powdered dry white clay. When it gets wet it turns into white mud and you track it into your house and you make a mess.
- Also, a soft rubbery plastic trashcan so it doesn’t crack like harder or rigid plastic
- Do not use a metal trash can nor a used trash can which could have dangerous and deadly bacteria.
- You don’t want any metal or bacteria to contaminate your food plants.
- You can add 4 small drain holes to your new Rubbermaid trash can.
- No larger than a pencil size.
- You don’t want snakes getting inside.
- Place the holes about 4 inches from the center & evenly spaced in a square
- Place the trashcan on a plant stand with wheels; or
- buy a plastic trash can with wheels & a handle
- so you can move it when it rains.
- Once it is full of dirt and potatoes it will be heavy.
- Put a plastic or nylon “window screen” (not metal) on the very bottom of the trashcan (cut to fit)
- so the sand does not fall out through the drain holes.
- and the water can drain instead of pooling at the bottom.
- And blocks insects and mice from getting in
- Add a couple inches of clean sand in the bottom; and
- Add an inch of gravel or small river rocks as a layer on top of the sand.
- Cover the sand and rocks with another plastic screen (not metal)
- Therefore, when you are ready to pour out the dirt you don’t end up with a mess.
- The layer of sand and gravel & drain holes will help prevent water rot of your plants
- If you can think of some way to wedge something on top of the nylon screen so it doesn’t let the sand & gravel fall out when you pour out the soil, while still allowing it to drain. Let me know.
- Perhaps 3 dowels (1/2 inch diameter) cut to fit in a tightly wedged triangle on top of this second screen above the gravel and sand may help hold down the screen
- & prevent the sand and gravel from dumping out & mixing with the soil when you pour out the soil at the end.
- Dowels can be found at Lowe’s about 36 inches long.
- Dowels are round sticks of wood about 3 feet long
- They come in various thicknesses & types of wood
- Lowe’s usually lays them on their side and paint the ends of the dowels and are usually on the same aisle as the baseboard trim & door trim, etc. Dowels are similar to broom handles. They come in all various thicknesses
- You can measure the trash can at the bottom which is smaller diameter than the top. Not in the middle but wedged in a triangle
- Smaller 1X2 similar to bed slats could be used.
- It is better to cut the dowels too long than too short.
- OR come up with a better plan to hold down the sand and rocks when you dump the soil after the season is done so you can reuse the soil and start a new potato from the beginning again.
- And let us know what you came up with.
- Add about 6 inches of loose potting soil in the bottom; &
- plant your chunk of potato with at least 2 good eyes under the soil.
- You can also plant 2 or 3 chunks of potatoes with at least 2 good eyes each
- Space the chunks about 6 inches apart in a triangle (for 3 chunks)
- You can add extra soil so you have about 3 inches of soil over them.
- Keep the soil loose. Do not pack it down.
- Depending on what type of potato you are growing (I prefer large Idaho baking potatoes) You can take a baked potato and cut it into sections.
- Each section should have a couple of good eyes to bud.
- You don’t have to divide it equally as long as each chunk has at least 2 good eyes.
- Plant your chunk of Potato with eyes into the soil with 3 inches over the chunks.
- If needed, add more soil.
- You will need to leave growing room above the new plantings so you can add more soil as the plants grow so they can form potatoes.
- Start with about 3 inches of soil to cover your planted potato chunks with eyes. Then add more soil periodically as the plants grow.
- Don’t let plants grow no more than 6 inches above soil line. Add dirt to cover the growing plants leaving 2-6 inches of plant exposed above soil line where it has enough leaves to receive sunlight.
- Water with a Miracle Grow mix (unless the soil already has miracle grow mixed with the soil)
- Don’t over water. The soil should be damp enough for eyes to grow but not soggy.
- Not too much miracle grow. It will be toxic if too much is used. Especially before the plant has had a chance to mature and grow.
- The sand & gravel at the bottom should help prevent water rot.
- Set the trashcan out in best sun possible. Especially when the potatoes are young and too deep inside the trashcan to see the sun.
- You should cover the top of the trashcan with plastic or nylon window screen which allows the sun to reach the plants while keeping out squirrels, rodents, nosy people, snakes and various people and creatures.
- The plastic or nylon screen (non metal) comes in rolls for window screen at Lowes
- It can be bought in various solar blocking grades and UV resistant materials
- I recommend about 80% sunlight or 20% sun blocking
- secure screen on top of trashcan with giant rubber band or small bungee cord or adjustable straps.
- Add more soil as the potato tuber (vine) grows longer & flowers expire
- keep the top 3 inches of potato tuber on top above dirt.
- As it grows, lightly water to reach roots & add more dirt.
- You may wish to install watering tube before you add potato sections so you don’t damage roots
- Watering tube could be made from old water hose or something else which wont contaminate soil.
- a 1 inch PVC conduit would work best for a watering tube. Also at Lowe’s
-
- Install watering tube before you plant the potato
- Watering tube should be off to the side and about 4 inches above the drain screen where it wont interfere with roots, potatoes or tuber.
- Don’t place watering tube all the way to the bottom where the screen separates the sand and gravel. Place the watering tube about 4 inches above the drain screen and off to the side to water the roots and not to cause water rot or damage to the roots
- Or you can use a different tube as long as it is not metal and only goes about 4 inches above the drain screen and should be off to the side where it doesn’t interfere with potatoes or tubers.
- Keep the tuber (vine) covered with potting soil as it grows.
- Keep the top 3 inches above the soil to allow the leaves to absorb the sun
- Caution: the tuber is fragile and breaks easily. Be gentle.
- Don’t suffocate plant by covering it with the lid.
- The trash can must be on a stand with wheels or have built in wheels with a handle so you can move it out of the rain on wheels without covering the trash can.
- If you leave the potato trash can out in the rain, the potatoes will drown & die even with the precautions to avoid water rot.
- Keep potting soil loose. Miracle grow always helps on any plant.
- If the potting soil has miracle grow then don’t add more to the water, but make sure the Miracle grow is not just a brand name on the soil bag rather than an ingredient.
- Keep adding potting soil layers as it grows. Just enough to cover exposed plant while Leaving the top 3 inches exposed to the sun.
- As the tuber grows start coiling the tuber (vine) upward and cover with soil in order to gain a little more room to grow.
- You need to cover each layer of the vine tuber with 3 inches of soil. The potatoes only grow in soil.
- The coil would be a gentle spiral upward. The tuber is VERY fragile and will easily break. The tuber is also hollow.
- I forget how long it takes to grow the potatoes. I think 45-60 days.
- You’ll have to look up the growing details online or in a book.
- It has been a while since I’ve grown any and I have forgotten much of the details.
- You’ll have to coil the tuber layers each time it grows and exposes too much of the tuber vine which is hollow and fragile.
- Keep the soil loose but use enough to keep the vine covered
- If you’ve let your soil be loose & kept a secure screen cover on top, you should be able to feel the size of your potatoes.
- When ready you can pour the dirt into a big box or another new Rubbermaid trash can when you are ready to harvest your crop.
- Do not use trash cans which have been used for garbage which collects dangerous deadly bacteria.
- Do not use metal trash cans. Only new plastic cans.
- When you pour out the dirt, the can should be full of large potatoes if they have had enough time to grow.
- I saw someone do this. It was the neatest way of growing potatoes. Due to health issues I have not done this myself but it was really cool to watch.. You might want to place a layer of plastic screen over the gravel and sand in the bottom when you start so you can pour out the dirt without pouring out the sand and gravel.
I clearly didn’t learn my lesson with too many tomatoes because I did the same thing when I got 2 dozen baby chicks which grew into full size chickens. It never occurred to me that I would have 23 eggs every day which we couldn’t eat. Don’t get a rooster unless you like bloody eggs with embryos due to his fertilizing the hens… and have him crowing outside your bedroom window at 3AM every morning. I had gotten one rooster by accident. You also don’t want to prepare a live chicken for food. Have someone else do it for you. My spouse had always bragged about growing up on farms and plucking chickens, picking crops, etc. They were a migrant farm family. He was 15 years older than me so they lived during the dust bowl. Anyway, if you ever saw a cartoon with a chicken running around without a head… that is no joke. When the chicken loses its head it starts flapping and running around. I couldn’t believe it.
Snakes do the same thing. If you cut off their head two hours after they die the body will start crawling around as if it could see where it was going. And the head will actually bite anything that moves including its own body. Trust me. You don’t want to prepare a live chicken yourself. It gets worse when it comes to plucking feathers and removing the organs. If you cut into the intestines be prepared to throw up from the horrific smell and it will contaminate the chicken with bad bacteria such as e coli.
Most snakes in Texas are deadly poison. Nearly all wild animals in this Texas county have rabies according to the animal control. Yet, they will kill cats and dogs after a few days but when they catch a deadly snake or a harassing squirrel or possum, the animal control just drives around the corner and lets them loose again within a half mile of your house where they will come back again. They also use 4 ft snake loops while we made an 8 ft and 15 ft loops. These snakes can climb trees faster than the squirrels. All those snakes were the deadly cotton mouth; also known as a water moccasin. On one occasion, three were seen crossing the road from the fields into my property at the same time. I can only handle one at a time. The fields had been harvested so the rats all headed toward our houses with the snakes following right behind them.
My bard rock chicken was laying giant eggs with 3 yolks. Unfortunately, after a year and a half she finally laid an egg so large it turned her inside out and she died. All of my bard rock chickens laid at least 2 yolk eggs. She laid 3 yolks every time. These chickens are black & white checkered like hounds-tooth patterns. There are also chickens which lay colored eggs such as blue or pink. or green. I had some of those as well. I can’t remember the name. I never understood why the stores don’t sell them. Especially for Easter. The colored eggs do not need to be hand colored. Having chickens is a good idea for the eggs. A good source of protein. If there is a catastrophe then you would need a rooster to produce more chickens. But you would need to keep some of your chickens isolated (or the rooster isolated) so you won’t be eating bloody eggs. And to keep the rooster away from your bedroom window at 3 AM. Don’t have more chickens than your family can eat the eggs on a daily basis. Remember to include the number of eggs each family member would eat daily. Such as 3 eggs each. When calculating how many chickens to raise. Don’t forget to include feed seed and chick mash and calcium grit for feeding them.
Geese or Guinea hens are good for keeping the snakes away from your chickens. Rabbits could be a producing source of meat if the infrastructure collapses (which is when our food and medicines and fuels and gov’ts are no longer providing for the country and we are on our own. So there wouldn’t be any hamburgers or bread or electricity or water as the utilities collapse. Food cant be delivered without fuel for the trucks. Etc. Our ancestors and some European countries today, deliver food and fuel on river boats. Then by horse pulled wagons to various communities in the past which we would end up doing without fuel or after an EMP weapon. When they talk about bombing us back to the stone age, they are not kidding.
So you would be looking for replacement meats but I never would be able to harm a rabbit. And the deer and wild turkeys and other wildlife and birds would all be gone in a very short while from people hunting them to feed their families. They will also kill you and take yours. So keep them penned in the back yard. No more than one or two chickens per person in your family and one extra hen and a rooster to produce more chickens but keep him separated so he doesn’t fertilize the eggs you eat. The hens will lay one egg every day without a rooster.
You may also consider a dairy cow. I’ve never had one but I believe the cow has to have either born a calf or given proper hormones to produce milk. You don’t want hormones in your milk because that is what causes irritable bowel syndrome IBS and makes people think they are lactose intolerant when they are not. This is not recommended if there is any fallout. Strontium gets in the milk when the cows eat the grass if there has been radioactive fallout and you will get it when drinking the milk. Also, cows produce a huge amount of milk so you will need to share it with your neighbors and the calf. Do not use a bull to impregnate your cow. Hopefully there will be a vet who can use artificial means. I believe the cow can produce milk for 2 years but you will have to look this up. You will also need to know how the pasteurize your milk with heat to kill bacteria and filter out debris and hair and homogenize the milk to mix the cream and fluids so the milk doesn’t separate. You won’t want to mix all the cream. Some of that can be used for coffee and cooking and making cheese or butter the old fashioned way.
I have a lot of books in my library on how to survive and prepare foods like the original pioneers. Yes, real books. You will need them when the internet is gone. One cow should provide for a half dozen families but the cow has to be fed and milked and watered every day. This is only needed if you lose access to stores to obtain food.
Money will be an issue. No one will trust paper money. So you will need precious metals, furs, animal meats or produce to trade. Walnut trees are a good source of income because they produce a lot of walnuts you can sell at those farmers markets or trade to a local farm store or General store like they had in the old days which provided everything to pioneers. Coins were an acceptable money. So you might want to stockpile the coins from your pocket each day into large jars.
If you run out of access to fuel, you will need a bicycle or horse and buggy, trap or small wagon to get around and acquire foods. They used to sell solar cars quite cheap. Under $10,000 or as low as $2000 and could also convert old cars to solar. You will need a huge chain and thick padlock to lock up your bicycle. Keep it out of site and take the front wheel with you and be prepared to defend it. It is better to take the entire bicycle inside. Also keep in mind someone will kill you for the horse. So you will need one or two well armed men to go with you so you will need more than one horse to pull 3 large adults and whatever you put into the wagon. The horse will also need feed, hay, alfalfa, water, shoes and medical care. I live where there are only a dozen houses on the entire road and could easily be barricaded to prevent intruders but would need to be constantly guarded. But an enclosed small group of homes is perfect for sharing a couple horses and a cow and eggs. We also have a nice creek but the water would have to be filtered and boiled for 10 minutes to ensure it is drinkable because the coyotes also drink there and who knows what else is dumped there or if there is fallout.
I was looking through the greenhouses on the Walmart website. They have an excellent collection for reasonable prices. Search on greenhouses. Not Sunrooms. If you search on sunrooms which are the same as greenhouses except they triple the prices and use clear glass. Search on greenhouses for the best prices. Make sure they have “twin wall” roofs and wall side panels. Twin wall panels are more sturdy. They should also have a roof panel which opens for a vent and it will need to be anchored for the wind. The panels also block 99% of the UV rays. They also have gutters which drain to the end where the water can be captured for the plants. Palram seemed to be the best ones. Be careful, some have twin wall roof panels but say nothing about the side wall panels. There was one which said both roof and wall side panels were twin wall. They cost more. So you could buy twin wall roofs with single side panels. The vent and door also have magnets. These can be placed on a deck or yard but you will need to build a level floor to support the unit and keep it level if you place it out in the yard. If you can’t afford the $600-$700 plus shipping, they have cheap units as low as $79 but it is just a flimsy frame with sheet plastic. In any event, you will need to anchor the greenhouse on deck or in your yard so it is not destroyed by winds.
Coastlines will have their water tables contaminated with salt water like in Florida. If you dig or drill a hole in Florida… which I did to install a ground bed, you will hit brine water about 1 foot below the surface. That was in Ft Lauderdale… and be sure to cover the hole overnight. We did so but still were greeted by an alligator (crocodile or caymen… I can’t tell them apart) who was in the excavation when we arrived the next morning. He probably crawled over the plywood covering the hole and it fell in under his weight. Or you might find a python. I took a lot of pictures of the wildlife and birds while I was there. The crocodile was gone by the time I arrived. Animal control removed him. Every business had a huge pond with a fountain in the center which were attracting the crocodiles. The everglades looked like they were drying up 15 years ago but the entire state will soon be under water. So not the best place to stay with all the forthcoming cataclysms. You may need to set up solar and wind power and a cistern to capture rainwater. It will also need to be treated with a few drops of clorox and covering to prevent debris and snakes from getting inside.
Back to the plants, there are seed kits you can buy for emergency preparations. Do NOT buy Monsanto which is now owned by Bayer. You will need to grow grain to produce flour so you can cook breads. If I can ever afford the solar power, I have bread machines and flour mills and nut mills, etc to make these things… if I can produce electricity. Also a water distiller. Again, if there is any fallout. you need to cover as much of your yard as possible with canvass to prevent contamination.
You can plant fruit trees in your yard and berry bushes, grapes, etc. You can order mini citrus trees for your greenhouse. You will love the smell of the leaves and flowers on the mini citrus trees. Especially the Orange and Lemon mini trees. They won’t usually have them in stock. The greenhouse will allow you to grow all year long. Keep in mind, if you buy one with plastic sheeting, it will usually break down in the UV rays and fall apart in pieces and would have to be replaced every year. I can’t grow foods in Texas. I tried to plant tomatoes outside which were eaten by giant grasshoppers and caterpillars before they were even ripened. Between the grasshoppers, caterpillars, crickets, rats, etc., I definitely need a vented greenhouse which fully seals to grow the foods. These greenhouses have magnetic seals for the ceiling vents and doors. You may need to add a screen to keep out insects.
Palram greenhouses are the best and more affordable. Be sure to check that the roof vents, twin wall roof panels which block UV rays and prehung doors are included. Walmart has the best collections online.
You could also grow edible fish in a pond on your property or a plastic pool. If you prepare live animals, birds or fish for eating, please do not do so in front of your children. It doesn’t toughen them up. It is very disturbing. I can say that from experience. I’ve never forgotten the ones I’ve seen. I still get nightmares when I think about it.
For other emergency foods you will need to buy for the first year before you can grow food, make sure you buy foods you like which you can rotate and replace so they don’t expire. MRE’s have the capability of cooking themselves without electricity. Spaghetti and sauce will keep for a long time as will peanut butter. You can also buy large containers of Tang to mix with water. Keep enough sugar because that will be the hardest to get in a collapsed economy. You will also need to have salt with iodine. Salt used to be a major tradable item under high demand prior to the 1900’s. There are also jello’s and puddings which don’t need to be refrigerated. I have a portable ice maker… if I have electricity enough to run it… and a spare chest freezer to keep food frozen and cold. I also have 3 refrigerators because I buy food for a month at a time. Canned foods will usually last a long time. Bottled drinks will also last for quite a while. Use olive oil to cook. You can use your outdoor grill or camp fire to cook. Be sure to have stainless steel or enamel cookware to cook with. Sometimes an Army Navy store or Academy store will have things you need. Sleeping bags are a good idea even if you lose power for one night. It gets awful cold if you lose power during a winter storm or ice storm. Sometimes 3-8 weeks with no power. That includes the local hotels and jobs with no power… although they will get priority over residents. Hospitals, police and fire depts, phone companies will have the highest priority.
If no calamity happens you will have nice fresh produce to eat and the ability to survive if your electricity is lost during an ice storm for 3 weeks. It happens all the time.
This link is for a 6’X8′ Palrum greenhouse. This one has clear side panels and twin wall roof. Those with twin wall side panels are not clear but they are stronger. I also prefer the 6’X10′ greenhouse. The green frame is prettier but the silver frame is cheaper. It needs to have a roof vent. You can also buy extra vents. I’m not sure how strong it is for hanging plants. Don’t forget shipping costs and taxes. You can also go on google and use the shopping option to search for greenhouses.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Palram-Hybrid-Greenhouse-6-x-8-Green/42429175?athcpid=42429175&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=0b4f607b-08a-1671bafffec4e3&athena=true
Plutonium has a half life of about 200,000 years… repeating that is only HALF the life of PU. One Cesium has a half life of 30 years and the other has a half life of 60 years. Strontium gets in the milk for 90 days after the fallout stops. Iodine causes thyroid cancer and you should have iodine pills on hand. 1 per day only when fallout occurs. You cant take it in advance since it is only a 24 hour pill. It stops the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodides. The pills are less than $10 per packet. I believe the duration is 10 days but read the packet to find out. They are available on Amazon. Even though the closest Nuclear plant to me is 100 miles away, remember how Chernobyl seriously spread fallout all over Europe and how Fukushiima spread fallout all over the US and Europe for over a year and a half. Remember, one of the 3 reactors in Japan was using Plutonium fuel rods. Plutonium catches fire when wet and looks like burning embers. Even one microscopic particle of plutonium inhaled or ingested is too much and will destroy your bone marrow and organs from the inside. During a catastrophe, these plants will spread fallout over everything even when thousands of miles away. 3 mile Island decided to repeatedly vent their containment building where 50% of the reactor core had melted down which was proven by a remote camera after the accident. It had melted and was in a melted glob at the bottom of the reactor vessel. They apparently had no filters in the vents because more than one person saw it snowing ash. Radioactive ash. They had no idea there had been a reactor accident at the time because the 3MI crew decided not to tell authorities for 3 days. Then, the authorities waited another 3 days before telling the public. So that was a week of exposure because of the lies. Even then, they only told Pregnant women & children under 5 to leave. The victims closest to the plant which was nearly in their front yards saw everything was blue. Ash was falling and building up on their water barrels as yellow scum (uranium is called Yellow cake). A hot rush of heat preceded all the events. Some felt a rumble. They were falling down. Skin was burned and rash. Hair turned white. Animals which remained behind after evacuation had white eyes, were blinded and died during the 5 days the owners were gone despite having ample food and water and shelter. Air was thick and heavy. Every person described strong metallic taste each time 3MI was venting. The authorities tried to blame it on fear of radiation… but these people did not know the plant had an accident for the first 3 days. That eliminates the fear factor. The intense blue seen by those who lived right next to the reactor is a sign of a criticality event which produces over 1000 rads per hour. 400 is death. The burns and white eyes and blindness were from alpha. The cancers were from Gamma and Beta. Nearly all of the plant radiation monitors were not working on this brand new reactor only a couple months old because the monitors had exceeded their maximum exposure. The crew in the control room would not have seen the blue ionization of the air produced by a criticality event during the meltdown while the crew continuously vented radioactive gasses like Krypton, hydrogen, etc., into the air affecting everyone within 15 miles with severe radiation exposure. So even if you live on the east coast and a west coast reactor releases gasses or explodes the containment roof like in Fukushima, you don’t have to live next door to be exposed. The fallout will encircle the globe. Do not believe anything the lying crooks tell you. Get to safety. 1 inch of lead or 1 foot of concrete or 6 feet of earth are the standards for blocking gamma. There are lead suits and Demron suits to block Gamma. These are things you need to know. Only those of us from the cold war era were taught how to survive. You need to remain in a shelter for 1 to 12 months before you can venture out in your protective suits and proper level 4 CDC filtered positive pressure hoods.
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