Pictures, Potatoes & a Party!

I got carried away with the "P" words... but it's fun sometimes to alliterate!

Potatoes
Here's a new one for me: I was told about a method of gardening potatoes in a bucket or garbage can or barrel or bag.

My wonderful husband, after I told him about this craziness, built me a barrel for our potato crop.
Here's what we did: He cut the top off a barrel and drilled holes about 6 inches apart around the base of the barrel. The holes he drilled were about ¼ inch holes.

Then he added about 6 inches of soil and planted the potato starts.

We watered and wait for them to grow.
And already they've grown! Now that they're a few inches tall, we add a few more inches of soil. The process is that we keep adding soil as the plant grow. This allows many "layers" of potatoes to grow inside the same barrel. By the end of the summer, we should have a barrel of potatoes.

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Photos of the Stove Tec

Here's a few photos of the latest stove cooker that some friends purchased. It's called the Stove Tec. It's lined with a ceramic liner to convey heat better.
You can use charcoal or wood. It's very efficient.
If we are interested, we'll out together a group order.
Stoves are $45 each- regularly.

How will you know if you like them??



I'm glad you asked... here's where the PARTY comes in...


I'd like to invite ALL of you, yes that said ALL, to our home for a Preparedness Eating Party. Here's my plan:

Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 6:30 pm...
Come to my house and we'll see how different cookers and stoves work.
A variety of stoves are coming: Alcohol cooker, Kerosene Stove, Stove Tec (pictured above), Rocket Stove, Sun Oven, smoker and ??

We'll be tasting samples of food prepared on all the different stoves and cookers... You can see them in action... Maybe tempt you to try your emergency stove out.

If you have a form of emergency situation food cooker that I haven't mentioned and you'd like to come demonstrate it as well, that'll be great!
Kids are welcome... my kids love friends.

I'll tell you more as we get closer.
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The website for the Stove Tec is: www.stovetec.net Please check it out by clicking the link. They do a much better job of explaining how neat this appliance is.

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Food Storage/ Home Preparedness Item of the Week: BAKING SODA

Yep, this humble baking ingredient can do so much! Here's a few of my favorites...

* Add 1/2 Teaspoon to omelette's to make them fluffier. (Add 1/2 tsp. per 3 eggs.)
* Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling Baking Soda on the ground around the tomato plants.
* Scatter baking soda around your flower beds to prevent rabbits from eating your flowers.
* Relieve skin itch from bug bites and sunburn by rubbing with baking soda.

For a more complete list: www.lifehackery.com

Make sure you have Baking Soda as part of your Food Storage. They do sell Baking Soda in large quantities...
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That's enough for today... Have a great week. Know that I am glad you're my friend!

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom. Hugo De Groot

Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes. James Froude

I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done. :)

growing gardens, prepared for problems and the latest recipe

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a GREAT day!

Gardening

We've passed the "Danger" Date for planting. I need to get out into my garden and plant the remaining vegetables I want to grow. For us that's: beans, corn, melons, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins. My terrific husband built the grow boxes, now I need to seed the waiting ones.

I found this on MSN and liked the tips:

Vegetables
As you're planting your vegetable garden, consider planting times as well as plant compatibility.

In most climates it's safe now to seed or plant hardier vegetables such as beans, peas, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, corn and chard. YEAH!!!
When you're sure the soil is thoroughly thawed and warm (at least 60 degrees), go ahead and sow cucumbers, squash, melons, peppers, tomatoes and other tender annuals.
Plant celery and cucumbers near your bean starts — they make good neighbors!
Beans also get along well with peas, corn and potatoes, but keep them away from "aromatic" vegetables such as leeks, garlic, onions and shallots.
Carrots, tomatoes and lettuces also like each other's company — just be sure not to mix them with dill.
Seeds of corn, pumpkins, squash, beans and melons can be sown directly into the ground now.

My goal this week is to get out and plant my remaining seeds... Here's hoping the next time we talk I can report my success!

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Earthquake Preparedness

The news reports of earthquakes all around the globe remind me that I am NOT ready for an earthquake. Chalk it up to my quirkiness, but I'd rather the peace of mind of being ready, even if it means I never use my preparations. I've learned peace of mind is worth the extra work for me.
Here's a link: http://beready.utah.gov --that has suggestions for kits, safety, etc.

Here's our family's earthquake action items for this week:

1. Strap down the Water Heater. (Our water heater is original to the house and is free standing. It could topple over with just a little shaker.)
2. Get our "Household Disaster Kit" (a.k.a. 72 hour kits) up to standard.
3. Store a little more water.

Of the 3 action items, the most challenging for me is building a functional "Household Disaster Kit" (72 hr) kit. I have all the lists of good 72 hour kits. The lists are so comprehensive it's great-- but is it functional to lug around?
I'm seriously considering rolling luggage as my 72 hour kit. That way I can move it somewhat and not completely kill my back in the process. (Can you imagine?! A disaster and a wrenched back? No thank you!)
Next Quandary: where to store the thing? I'm considering our shed in the backyard. Even if an earthquake toppled our home and the shed, the shed is less rubble to dig through to get to the kit.

What have you done? I'm looking for wisdom here. How have others collected and stored their 72 hours kits?

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Apple Protein Muffins

This morning I concocted muffins for my kids for breakfast. I wanted to incorporate dried apples, whey protein and whole wheat in a form that would: a) feed my kids well (low sugar/high protein) and b) actually taste good.

Here's our result/recipe:

Dried Apple Protein Muffins

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Vanilla powder whey protein
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups dried apples - rehydrated

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put cupcake papers into 12-cup muffin tin.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the butter and add the brown sugar. Add the egg and mix well. Mix in the buttermilk gently. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 20 ish minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Makes about 12 muffins.

That's all for this week... Let's get growing and preparing and cooking!

Practice is the best instruction of them all. -Publilius Syrus
Knowledge is the food of the soul. -Plato
A Smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

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