Well folks, today I let my inner Capitalist out...the animals were a pre-planned purchase from December, everything else was the last 2 months prep budget

x2 pigs delivered from the butcher
x1 beef calf purchase & raising fees put aside for auction next month (for fall slaughter)
x1 Browning BL-22
x1 5000rnd case .22lr
x12 500ml aluminum water bottles w/ carbiner clips
x4 2 pk LED headlamps (tiltable & incl red LEDs)
x4 ferro rods w/ strikers
x6 4 pk water proof matches
x12 water proof match containers w/ strikers
x6 2 pk lantern mantles
x5 5 pk Bic lighters

Keep Safe

my heirloom seeds came in friday. can't wait to get them started (this will be my first grow from seeds)

Zoom: question, I I ordered seeds through the mail and they arrived on a cold day (sub 0 temps) and they spent a few hours in my mailbox until I got home from work, would they be ruined?

I want to order some of the Survival Seed Vault seed just because they come with a good variety but I'm worried about them showing up while I'm at work one winter's day... maybe I should order them for next year and just go with what I can get locally for now.

I want to order some of the Survival Seed Vault seed just because they come with a good variety but I'm worried about them showing up while I'm at work one winter's day... maybe I should order them for next year and just go with what I can get locally for now.

One of the things most people don't think about is the natural growing cycle.
When seeds develop on a plant, they will usually seperate and drop off in the fall. Then during the winter they will lay on the ground and freeze. In fact, the seeds of some plants have to freeze for a period of time or they won't germinate. I keep all of my seeds in my freezer and I've never had a problem with them.

TAZ

Hello,

Please don't worry at all about the seeds that sat in the mail box for a few hours, as Taz said, there are certain plants seeds and fruiting tree's and bushes that need a certain length of cold or temps before they will in fact sprout.

It will listed on the back of your packages if they need this, just as the back of your package will tell you seed spacing, seed planting depth, light requirements and grow days till harvest, as well as helpful advice on when to start early seeds before frost dates, or if you are planning staggered plantings, when is the last safe planting date etc.

Now as a long time gardener, we play and there are some of us on the board that push ways and start dates and how to grow this or that, and I am not saying that any of us are wrong in that, (its part of what makes gardening a hoot) and there are few of us that are asking alot of certain plants or plantings to see what would happen if SHTF, how would this or that work..

But for first time starting from seeds this year, my best advice I can give is consider what the company put on those packages as your gold standard and you will have a very good chance of doing well on this.

However on a side note, if you are truly worried about any seed and its quailty, do a germanation test on them..

http://www.vintageveggies.com/information/seed_germination.html

When seeds develop on a plant, they will usually seperate and drop off in the fall. Then during the winter they will lay on the ground and freeze.

Heh, Never thought of that. but now that you've pointed it out it seems glaringly obvious!

50 med 50 large bags for the vacuum sealer..were 1/2 price, would have liked to have gotten more but unexpected expense this fortnight. 5 small hand dynamo flashlights (putting a basic power outage kit together for parents and a family friend) 3 lighters, 2 small AM/FM battery radios with LCd screen and alarm clock, garbage bags, 400x500mg Glucosamine tablets. Flour.. gunna start learning to bake basic bread. 5inch ereader

10 pints of canned pork, fresh out of the canner 15 minutes ago 🙂

3X 2LED credit card flashlights, 3 small 2AA Led lanterns, 5 mylar emergency blankets, 6 emergency ponchos, 1 S&W Neck knife with whistle on the sheath, 1 small double mirror compact. Now putting together a basic kit fto go in the car of the family friend - small 1st aid, headlamp, coupla ponchos etc.

1,000 dryer sheets 😀 Costco has the 250 ct boxes of Bounce dryer sheets for $7.89 ($2 off)
9 pack of Kirkland baby wipes (900 wipes total) for $15.64 regular $19.79...these are great to have around "just in case", personal hygiene when there's no running water
3 kg Kirkland Signature honey ($15.99 and Canadian too, not blended with Canadian)
1 huge canister of baking powder

Noticed many of you were talking about pressure canning meat. It can be done safely but always use a PRESSURE CANNER not a pressure cooker. Two different items which do different things. If you suspect what you have canned has "gone bad" or might have botchulism THROW IT OUT. Botchulism can kill you. Follow all recipes to the letter with canning, DON"T get creative. I recommend the Blue Ball Book of Canning which you can get off of Amazon. I do successfully can my garden and am about to attempt meats. I also recommend purchasing your pressure canner from the United States and bringing it back home if you take a trip because it will be almost half the price of one you would purchase in Canada. Also second-hand shops and garage sales are great places to get cheap mason jars. All canning should be done with the best of your garden. All canning is done at your own risk. If you have questions you can email me at frugalcanadaprepper@yahoo.com

Been having issues with cheaper lighters (logo is a flame that looks like a Q and I think the name is actually Q-lite) so I bought 3 Glow Brite BBQ lighters at Dollar Tree...they last at least as long as a large sized Bic and you can control the height of the flame, you can't on the Bic anymore. Got some plastic cutlery also, two 48 piece packs (spoons/forks/knives)
Also picked up another multi pack of wooden matches at Dollar Tree and some veg seeds 4/$1.25 and some really high quality "ladies" soap.
Husband went to Walmart and found they had strike-anywhere and he bought a 2 box package of them. He also got me 4-1 lb bags of coleslaw mix that's going on the dehydrator tomorrow or Monday.
Started two different sourdough starters this week.

Bought a military surplus back pack. Had to re-rig it though and add extra straps with Q-snaps. Also a military rain jacket (US) and wind pants.

10 meal in a jar mac and cheese dinners for two, and had one for dinner!

Noticed many of you were talking about pressure canning meat. It can be done safely but always use a PRESSURE CANNER not a pressure cooker. Two different items which do different things. If you suspect what you have canned has "gone bad" or might have botchulism THROW IT OUT. Botchulism can kill you. Follow all recipes to the letter with canning, DON"T get creative. I recommend the Blue Ball Book of Canning which you can get off of Amazon. I do successfully can my garden and am about to attempt meats. I also recommend purchasing your pressure canner from the United States and bringing it back home if you take a trip because it will be almost half the price of one you would purchase in Canada. Also second-hand shops and garage sales are great places to get cheap mason jars. All canning should be done with the best of your garden. All canning is done at your own risk. If you have questions you can email me at frugalcanadaprepper@yahoo.com

welcome to the board, yes many of us do indeed do alot of canning, be it water bath or pressure canning, while all canning is indeed done at your own risk, its funny for those of us that have been canning along time to watch the fades come and go.. canning in the oven (which now is considered a N.A. huge NO, is still done in England by thousands a year with no issues), the thousands that still open kettle can, (another now big NO-NO), water bath canning veggies that are now considered only pressure canner safe, and the lists and new do and don't come and goes over the years..

I have canning books that date back to the dirty 30's and forward, I will admit straight up that on some things I follow the rules and regs and I don't can with all the extra's or light this or that, I still with the tried and true recipes from my family, they are heavy on acid, salt or sugar, and they will hold for years in the pantry and still be good in the end.

Having said that, I do agree if in doubt of a seal, throw it out.

The joy of putting up hundreds or thousand plus jars a canning season is that you get a very good feel for things, start with the jams and jellies, work over to sauces and pickles, then up to fruits, veggies and meat.

what kind of meat are you planning on starting to learn on?

I am doing a very old perserving idea this year, its from ireland in the newly published forgotten skills cookbook by Darinna Allen (love this book!), you make your heavy sugar marmalade and you seal it with clean rendered hot lamb fat, to use, you crack your fat, take out your jam, rince the jam off the lard, re-heat and repour it.. Heads up, this would NOT pass a food safety rules but really its just confit for jam, very interesting really..

Love making confit, which is perserving cooked meat in fat, another old skill that we don't see often in N.A. that is still alive and well in europe.