Nancy Gregg’s Y2K Series
As presented in the
Siskiyou Daily News
ŠN. E. Gregg 1999
Preparations for Y2K bug: Food production and storage
When we think of raising a garden most of us head for the seed packets in the local hardware store or nursery. We have taken the word "hybrid" to mean extra special produce. It is now extra special for sure. It can mean that the seeds have been genetically altered so that you cannot save them for planting in the following year! This technology has been around for several decades. Recently this technology has been further developed for the three most basic crops worldwide: rice, corn and beans. These three crops are staples for the majority of the peoples of the world. This technology was developed at taxpayer expense and the USDA owns the patent. The reward for developing this technology is the USDA will get 5 percent of the gross sales worldwide!
This technology also means that within a very short period of time food production can be controlled globally to create food shortages and famine!
At the present time there are three food seed companies in the United States that offer quality seeds that can be saved from one harvest to the next. This is essential to life itself and needs to be included in your preparedness program. Seeds for the family garden can be purchased at one of the following companies: 1. The Ark Institute, P. O. Box 142, Oxford, Ohio 45064; phone 1-800-255-1912
2. Back to Eden TLC Greenhouse 3976 M-50 Lane, Paonia, Co. 81428 1-970-527-3375 (this company vacuum packs their product.)
Both companies also sell books relating to the harvesting of your seed and its storage for the next year’s planting. It is an investment well worth making!
After the food is raised, its storage for a year is essential. Actually tow years would be best, as some crops do not do well except every other year. Storage of grain: If you thoroughly mix in small portions of diatamatious earth, (2 cups earth for a 55 gallon drum of grain) corn or wheat, it will keep it bug free and the earth will not hurt you when processed into food. Chestnuts can also be ground into flour and are very high in protein. Chestnut flour put on a tray in the oven can be dried. Dry goods are relatively easy to store. Beans, lentils and split peas, leave them in their sacks and put them in trashcans with secure lids. Heat will not bother them and neither will the cold. Five-gallon plastic buckets work well for longer storage. Adding bay leaves throughout the bucket of rice and flour keep the bugs out. Powered sugar, powered milk, powered cream cocoa, Jell-O, (commercial size), all store indefinitely. A quarter pound of dry ice in the bottom of the bucket covered with a paper towel removes the oxygen.
The old-fashioned root cellar can be made underground and keep vegetables for one season. This needs to be constructed where winter rains and snowmelt will not collect in it. They are usually dug into the side of a hill with shrubs planted around them. Railroad ties are used for supporting interior walls and then a tarp for earth coverage on the roof. In effect you make the hill a little larger. An old refrigerator door works well for securing the entrance. If this is made large enough it is an excellent for the storage of even your canned foods as it affords even temperatures from seasonal extremes. Remember this is your grocery store and your daily use should be stored in your home.
Pressure cooker canning is the method that I have used for the past 23 years. This for me was quick and safe with minimum spoilage. It also has afforded me a great variety of foods. At times we have had rabbit, chicken, turkey, venison, beef and port in canning jars. When canning meats, a thin barbecue sauce may be added n place of water. This should be kept very thin. If you do more than a couple of batches, the water in the canner will become flavored. This can then be canned for soup base. Be sure to keep your canning lid seal clean after each batch is processed. I once got my lid stuck on. It took two men, two choker chains and a crow bar to get it off! If this happens be sure to remove the handles before the chains go on!
A one pound package of sausage cooked with water poured over it makes sausage and gravy, chili and pizza topping. A little more normal eating than a no refrigerator society will allow. (I just hope that the supplies of canning jars that have been distributed to my children are being put to use with a wide variety of foods.)
Speaking of no refrigeration, before electricity block ice was put under large hay mounds and this preserved foods right into July. If that was not available then red meats were eaten in the winter months when they hung in the attic or barns and were used over a two or three-month period. Pork was used for all seasons. Curing meant you had hams and bacon in the summer months while the old-fashioned pork barrel afforded storage of the fresh meat for a longer period of time in the winter months. Foul was eaten predominately in the summer as it was from the butcher block to the frying pan. Once you have eaten "fresh chicken" your mouth will water at the thought! The summer months are when foul can be raised and preserved. I have raised meat chickens. In eight weeks we had 11 pound roasting chickens! They grew so fast that their legs couldn’t keep up with the weight. When too heavy to walk then it is off with the head!
Gramma Leonard had been raised on a self-sufficient farm just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She described the underground root cellar and the hanging of the meat in the attic as though it were yesterday. Her description of the old fashioned port barrel stored in the root cellar brought that era to life. "You slide your cuts of meat into the barrel and render out the lard. While it can still be poured and with no meat touching another piece you pour the lard to completely incase the meat. Cover about four inches on top. The fat does the preserving." The old-timers knew just how long was safe. (Out side temperatures should not go above 40 degrees.)
Canned lard kept in a cool place provides for baking. Beef fat rendered makes candles and soap; Lentil fat from lambs rendered makes a marvelous hand cream, Chap Stick and will aid in the healing of cuts and scrapes. Sulfur powder added to it will keep down infection.
Drying means larger quantities in a smaller storage area. It also means adding water to revitalize. It does afford easy moving if you have the need to relocate.
We should all be blessed with such abundance under these difficult circumstances. Thank you God for all our provision, guide us all and please bless OUR America.
Nancy Gregg’s book, The Rebirth of OUR Republic by sending $16.00 which includes mailing and handling to The Grassroots Press, P. O. Box 516, Yreka, Ca. 96097
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