Practical Prepping Protocol even if Poor

This was something I would have had to have done a while ago unfortunately. I can't put too much stock into finding a tribe either which is what it is.

Left my job monday because I couldn't take it anymore with everything going on, and plan is to leave within the next few weeks and find a good area to build a shelter and start stocking up foraged foods etc.

I know how to garden extremely well, part of my job I just left had a lot to do with planting, transplanting, and sustaining/tending various species of plants through winter etc.

Main issue is needing to know what vegetation is going to be toxic to me up here (disguised as edible mushrooms or berries when they are not) and properly gutting/butchering a successful hunt.

I began foraging in my teens with a field manual in one hand and a plant in the other. There are some basic plants that are so plain to ID, you can use those to build confidence. Cattails are really good to start with.

Wild foraging classes is something that you might find at nature centers. Use the internet to look up your local center's calendar and see if something is coming up. They are often free or have a small cost. Even if they don't advertise it as an edible foraging class it would be worth going to a plant identification class and going home to look up if any of them are edible. I even have a pagan store in driving distance that held edible wilds classes (but you had to filter astrological references.)

Keep an open mind, leave no stone unturned.

Edit: At this point I go walking and notice a plant that I've never noticed before. I'll sit there studying it, maybe take a picture on my phone and then go home and look it up. After a while you'll learn what you need to observe to make an identification. A skill that is honed only by doing. Don't wait. If you need to get a field manual from the library, do it. That's a start.

Second edit: Please don't strike out into the wilderness until you have much more knowledge! At least, not on a permanent basis. I'd have a hard time storing enough calories from foraging, someone just beginning would be out of luck. At least bring enough Chef Boyardee.

Last Edited by Lowkey Cyberpunk on 08/28/2020 03:34 PM

Something else that almond extract is marvelous in.
Add like a 1/4 tsp to a chocolate box cake. You will be amazed by how delicious it is.

Enjoy~

I'm waiting for my last paycheck and will be going to buy myself a book/manual on the foraging of PNW :) I'm aware of the simple ones, but as far as wild mushrooms and other mosses (some edible is boiled, others not) I need that manual for it.

Yeah at this current time, I'm more or less figuring out my route to either go to Alaska where there is a commune/covenant , or try to find one here. I'm self aware in that i wouldn't last long alone given my skill set and knowledge let alone supplies as well.

My gut has been telling me we have until Election to figure it out so doing classes (especially with COVID restrictions) doesn't seem possible atm for me.

Gently, quietly, respectfully... Please get a response from your Alaska option before heading out. And take another local look. You might find something more local that isn't labelled as a commune. Maybe collective. I don't know what you are looking for but chances are there is something that you might be overlooking. Expand your searches. Wandering into the wild isn't a long term option right now. Maybe a couple of weeks. And, whatever your decision is, use anything that presents to you as a learning opportunity.

Last Edited by Lowkey Cyberpunk on 08/28/2020 04:14 PM

When I was young, I was in the Army, stationed in West Germany.

Went into the woods with Euell Gibbons' book, Stalking the Wild Asparagus.

Cooked them up. Wild leeks, tasty.

Dandelion greens sauteed in butter, delicious.

Boiled arrowroot. UH OH! Burning like sharp needles started at the end of my tongue and went down to my my stomach.

Grabbed my Bushcraft book. Turned to the chapter on edible/poisonous plants. It said that my sensation was from a common plant poison, oxalic acid. Lethal dose: one gram.

Picked up my poison response manual. Oxalic acid kills by removing the calcium in your blood when it makes calcium oxalate. Causes a heart attack. Antidote is calcium.

Chugged an entire gallon of milk. Went to the ER.

"Yup, Lieutenant, you burned the shit out of your throat".

Antidote worked. Still here.

BTW, arrowroot is NOT found in Germany. Native to North America only. DUH!

Be very careful in plant ID. I would not touch a mushroom unless I had a degree in mycology.

A good quick source for prepping is WINCO.

Bulk bags of many items from baking soda, oats, many kinds of flour, etc.

Plus their bulk section has many powdered items with many spices.

From gravy, powdered cheese (most likely for Mac/cheese), pasta, snacks, many kinds of sea salts & all amazingly priced.

Agreed 100%, trying to do so as we speak.
thank you for the kind words and advice <3

I did the same thing once when I ran out of vanilla while making whipped cream. Almond flavoring in whipped cream is out of this world!

An entire family died here in Nor Cal about 25 years ago. Grandparents were Hmong immigrants.

Grandma went on a walk and harvested some mushrooms, as she had done all of her life. She 'knew' about mushrooms.

I turns out they were toxic, and the whole family died after eating them.

Sad.

OH DANG! I never even thought of that.

- MC

That sounds great! Or mix it with vanilla frosting too.

I wonder how it would go with cream cheese frosting on a carrot cake? :yums1:

The price gouging with lids are absolutely outrageous! I was canning yesterday and ran out of pickling spice. None to be had, nor were there any individual spices to make my own. Craziness! I did score some jars at tractor supply. Luckily, I have been collecting jars for several years at yard sales and on clearance and thank God I did!





A few pressure canners can still be found at Walmart if you buy online and pick up in store. I am thankful I invested in an All American canner a long time ago. My Grandma had one and it never wore out. I noticed they are hundreds of dollars now and you can't even get them for months.


I am noticing the price of basic things like vinegar, salt, pepper, and baking soda are going up rapidly. If you can find ot cheap then buy it! Dollar general still has good prices on those things. Even Aldi is getting a lot higher. A small can of pepper was nearly 4 dollars.


Any new preppers I would advise to stock up on vinegar. You can use it for so many things. Cleaning, canning, medicinal use, a disenfectant, etc.. Here is a good link:

[link to www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com (secure)]

Vouching for Dyin.... she is damn good people.

Even save detergent bottles. Fill for cleaning water.

Save spray bottles. Water and Tabasco bunny deterrent and spray in human eyes of a threat.

A good cleaning ... for bathroom, floors, kitchen....

In medium pinesol bottle empty :)

Water

Four to six table spoons dish soap

Three to five teaspoons baking soda

Stir! Not shaken.

I really like this thread. Learning a lot.

After downsizing for years after the death of my spouse, I bought a super small tiny house made for a minimalist. Easy to clean, inexpensive to heat and cool and with the proper feng shui about it. I loved my new house and thought it was the best way to live.

Suddenly with the virus, every nook and cranny got filled with preps. I had a book case, but the books were taken down for food. You open my tiny closet and it's top to bottom full of food...clothes are now stored in my car. I'm storing wherever I can, and I don't think I can do any more. It's now encroaching on my small amount of living space. Once a minimalist with a simple lifestyle, my house now looks like a tiny stock room. Yet, it's not that much food!

I suppose I'm to a place where I must stop now. But it's certainly not enough food for long term. I looked into getting a storage unit but this is FL and not good conditions for that unless you get one that's climate controlled, and in fact, you aren't allowed to store food in climate controlled units.

I've run out of ideas on storage options. Where are you storing your extra food? Is it a problem for you as well?

Thank you but it is not a money thing, I need to spend more time doing other things!
Bless ya all, and good luck!

You always give such great advice! The only change I would make is NO PLUCKING AROUND~~~~ Only SKINNING. Chicken is much healthier that way, and the horrible stench of wet and singed feathers is not in your nostrils for a hundred years! I cannot eat chicken for many months after smelling that horrendous odor.

I apologize for the assumption!

Wish you would spend more time with us, but we all fully understand needing to use our time for prepping, especially, and for real word occupations and avocations.

We will just be grateful when you can be here!

From Trinity's post of today, looks like the AC ban will not last long, fortunately for us in this case.

Best wishes to you, as well, and God's blessings, health, safety and security be upon you at all times.

Welcome~ So glad you are learning a lot here and enjoying it.

Frankly, the only thing I could add to your quest for space are the many ways we can fit things into our homes, disguised, and your tiny home is obviously filled.

Is your home movable? As in on wheels or can be on a trailer? If that is the case, I would certainly get out of Florida, and move it to where you can afford the land, which already has power and water on it. Then you need a storage shed or garage of whatever size you feel you need, or if you move to an area where it is safe to rent a storage unit, that would be the answer.

If it is not movable, the choices are considerably limited. Are you willing to sell the home and move to something larger, in a different state or still in Florida, depending on your preferences?

How long do you believe you need to prep for? Many experts say two to three years. I wish I could do three years or even two, but my income does not support that desire. You need to be growing your own food, at the same time, beginning right now. Investigate Kratky Hydroponics. Only takes buckets and no plumbing or wiring. That's what I am starting. All the fresh food we can grow supplements our preps, making our diet healthier and stretching the drier, duller foods longer - the more we grow, the longer our preps last. For security, it would be good if you could do Kratky indoors, but you have the weather there for outside, if you are in a secure area. People will be stealing food out of their starvation, likely beginning this winter, and they will trash what they don't eat, so security will be a big deal.

Sorry I really don't have good suggestions for you - you are in a bit of a pickle, but I do believe you will figure it out and come out a winner!

Best wishes and God bless!

Hope Dawn users don't use more than one teaspoon of it! They will be on a skating rink for years. Very dangerous.

Soda cleans well.

Saline
Costco -- Neilmed sinus rinse. Kit has 250 premix packets. One stray can of saline and 2 8oz squeeze bottles. Use boiled water after it cools or store spring water. That squeeze bottle work well to clean sounds.
(Costs more at Walmart).


Pressure Canner
The huge (there are 3 sizes) Power XL pressure cooker works great for canning when you have power. (Lol the girls have swapped mine for the little one again. But they are canning and gleaning.)

Grocery
My first shop is a surplus food store that goes to the auction and buy out of date and surplus food. I third worked it so most Best buy dates don't count in my world.
Cart of Greek yogurt, watermelons, fresh veggy, cans, salty snacks, and cookies $20-30.

My second shop is that Grocery Outlet.

My third shop is WinCo. For bulk rice, oatmeal, popcorn, flour, and sugar (bees eat 20 pounds of sugar when it get too hot for the flowers). Good trade for 80 pounds of honey per hive after the first year.

Old Men dying of Heat Exhaustion (Pooka)

Remember the Shamwow. Keeping one of those soaked in ice water around your neck while wearing a big hat helps.

Also use a water only misting bottle to cool myself down.

I keep a gallon bottle of ice water in the shade while working and force myself to make it gone in two hours.

Food Grade Buckets

I made friends with a Sandwich shop and get the used pickle bucket and kids for free. This also used to work for bakeries and food service places like industrial kitchens.

I use a drill on the kids to make all those holes for the roots.

No Power Heating Greenhouse

Use a hot compost pile at 140 degrees. (Yes the master composter girl makes me use a cooking thermometer).
Keep it wet keep, keep it stirred, and keep it in the cage.

Greenhouse

[link to ana-white.com (secure)]

I hit Craigslist for the polycarbonate and a used framed door.

Ana White is a prepper s fantasy woman.

I found this while perusing a Covid thread.

[link to magictour.free.fr]

Start up your printers peeps!~
The preps on this page are too many to give a synopsis on.


Read it at your leisure and get the info you think you might need.

Thanks for all the new info!

I have ordered bulk food like flour, beans, rice, wheat, and molasses from rainydayfoods.com

However, I later found out that webstaurant.com has much better prices.

I do NOT go into stores, at least since January. I order everything for delivery to my farm.

My wife, The Queen, and I have saved a LOT of money by eating simple or what we raise. We have chickens and a garden so we try to eat as much as we can from those.

BTW, even though I knew about the ideas for keeping cool in the heat, I did NOT utilize them in my recent mini-ordeal in processing the bull.

Thanks for the reminders. There ARE ways to handle the heat when required. I need to prep better before heading out to do farm work.

Mine is a 1971 GMC 2500. Camper Special. Heavy-duty suspension listed on the build tag. 10-ply tires.

It is ugly and uncomfortable (no A/C, not even a radio). It gets very poor fuel mileage do to having 4.10 gears in the rear end.

But it does haul heavy stuff very well.

At least you use your pickup like a pickup rather than a showboat.

These days I much prefer a Subaru. I go offroad with it, I've pulled stumps with it, I haul animal feed with it. And I get something like 27 mpg in it. The only thing that I can't do with it is bring home 4x8 sheets of plywood. That's why I have a trailer hitch.

And they're easy to repair.

Was just looking at some historic ways to communicate. Was thinking that we should be looking at ways to make local comms work. Most people think ham radio or CB radio at this point but I would suggest something that every one is using at this point... Wifi.

With a little effort you can hook all kinds of things to a local wifi network. You can make cell phones work even if cell towers are down.

There's an opensource app called Tickets, you can download it and install. It is intended to be a replacement for 911 type of calls where you can identify and dispatch emergency resources to a call.

Wifi points, given a common federation, will be a defining moment in the events that we are headed to.

Extra points: I've installed an operating system on a wifi access point that allows me as a ham operator to send information at a higher power than most people. Imagine being able to send information to a 3 mile radius!

Wifi should be on the list of everyone looking to communicate in the near apocalpse.

Edit: Jitsi is first on my list of station to station comms over wifi. Easily installed using:

[link to yunohost.org (secure)]

Last Edited by Lowkey Cyberpunk on 08/29/2020 04:19 PM