Hi Everyone,
NOTES:
This guy has a lot of good ideas for living without electricity or water. He lives “off grid”, so some of his thoughts don’t apply to city folk.
Here is what this video covers:
Utah State University has these downloads for summer ideas for your family.ย Hidden Gems: Family and Relationship Guides | USU
GARDEN HAPPENINGS:
These are my pole beans. I planted them at the same time as my bush beans. They are doing so well, except…….no flowers. Not a single one. Meanwhile, we’ve already been eating the beans from the bush bean plants. 5-6 inches long and delicious!!! I’m hoping these pole beans will produce, otherwise, I’ll just stick with bush beans from now on.
It’s blackberry season! I made 10 half-pints of jam last week and have another batch of berries ready to go. My blueberries are ripening little by little. But for some reason, the blueberries are always small.
Still, they are so sweet in pancakes. I never have enough for muffins (2 cups?) but I keep planting more bushes and maybe one day……..??
The tomatoes are getting bigger. I put small mesh bags around some of them to keep the birds and bugs away. My pepper plants are still only about 6-7 inches tall. They are waiting for warmer weather.
I also have some of this:
Empty sticks where tomato flowers “should” be. Hmmmm. Probably causes?? 1) Something ate the flowers. I’ve NEVER had that happen before. 2) The plant simply dropped all the flowers because of those few days of extreme heat. This is totally realistic. I really have no idea. But it’s frustrating to have a tomato plant that’s nearly 4 feet high and NO tomatoes growing on it! The last time I fertilized, I added bone meal which has a high middle number. It’s supposed to encourage flowering, so……. we’ll see. Ugh.
LONG TERM STORAGE: pasta
So…. I finally tried it. I made my own pasta!
It was……interesting. LOL First, I think I used the wrong recipe. There was WAY too much flour and I had a hard time kneading it out into a smooth ball. The making of the noodles was surprisingly easy. I watched a couple of videos to find out how to use my little pasta machine. But I didn’t make them thin enough, and although we ate them, neither of us wanted seconds.
This guy showed me what to do if my pasta was too dry. I should have watched him first.
I’m going to try this recipe next time.
If you have 20 minutes, she talks about all kinds of problems you might have and how to fix them.
SHORT TERM STORAGE: Mac & Cheese, or convenience meal mixes
Whether it’s Cup of Noodles, or mac and cheese, it’s nice to have something you can cook on one burner and doesn’t take a lot of dishes to prepare.
72 HOUR KITS: bandaids
Bandaids will lose their adhesive properties. They will last about 3-5 years but not forever! Get knuckle bandaids, fingertip bandaids, and large bandaids, as well as your routine strips.
I keep my antibacterial cream right in the bandaid box.
FOOD STORAGE RECIPES:
Tonight, we’re having potato soup, which COULD be a food storage meal IF I used my dehydrated potatoes. But……not tonight. HOWEVER, I “am” going to make soft delicious homemade rolls:
SOFT ROLLS If you have never made any kind of yeast bread, you may want to watch a video or two on it. I’m just giving the basic recipe and skipping all the detailed instructions:
1 1/2 c. warm milk
3 TB butter – warm the milk and butter together. Let cool just a bit.
3 -3 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast
2 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
Mix, then add the milk. It makes a shaggy dough. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so to let the flour absorb the milk. That way you don’t add too much flour and make the rolls heavy.
Turn out and knead for 5 min until smooth. Allow to rise in a greased bowl. Punch down and divide in 9 pieces. Place in a square baking dish (I always use parchment). Let rise about an hour.
Make an egg wash = 1 egg and a splash of water. Brush lightly on the rolls.
Bake in a preheated oven 400ห for 10-15 min.
Making Jam Without Pectin
ย ย ย This is only my second year making jam.ย I DO use pectin, which is what makes the jam thicken.ย I saw this article this week, and wondered what I would do if pectin were not available.ย Would all my berries then go to waste?ย How to Make Jam Without Pectin – The Organic Prepper
I’m not sure I’m ready to try this yet. But maybe someday I’ll wish I knew how!
Mosquito Bites Remedy
3 parts activated charcoal
I bought something like this:
It was under $15 on Amazon.
1 part psyllium powder. You can also get this on Amazon. OR I bought it in the bulk section at Winco.
I used 3 TB charcoal and 1 TB psyllium powder. Then I used a VERY LITTLE water. Just enough to make a paste. The psyllium is a binder that holds the charcoal together. It makes a kind of gel. I put my little blob of gel between two pieces of plastic wrap and rolled it out flat. You can keep it just like that in the refrigerator. When you have a bite, cut off just enough with the scissors to cover the bite. Secure with some first aid tape. It feels cool to the touch, which helps with the sting, and the charcoal will help draw out the poison. It really works!!!
Marti Shelley
