That blessed moment at the end of a canner’s long day. You’ve done all of it right. Filled the jars with good food. You allowed the recommended amount of head space in the jars. Jar rings finger tight. You got your canning racks in place. Loaded the the jars carefully […]
Prepping for Strange Times The Grog Locker: Bulking up for ‘The Big One’ Part 1: The Grog ‘And it’s all for my grog. My jolly, jolly grog. All for my beer and tobacco. for I’ve spent all me tin, with the lassies drinking gin, now across the Western ocean I […]
Prepping for strange times Learning about alcohol: It’s a fascinating subject. You couldn’t cover it in a lifetime. There are thousands of tasting videos on the internet, most not worth your time. For insights on evaluating whiskey, a Scotsman named Ralfy in the link below is your man. He’s brilliant. If […]
The Grog Locker: Tobacco ‘Now where are me boots, me noggin, noggin boots, all sold for beer and tobacco. for the soles they were thin, and the tops were letting in, and the heels were lookin’ out for better weather.’ Part 2: Putting up rope tobacco for trading: Long-term storage. […]
Prepping for Strange Times: Freeze Dryer If you don’t want to read the whole article, and are on the fence asking yourself, ‘Is a freeze dryer worth the money?’ The answer is yes—as long as you use it. Otherwise, it’s not. That’s all. Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer in Five […]
Part 2. What the Freeze dryer does and choosing the right size for your home Remember when they tried to teach us about sublimation in high school science class? Water goes from a solid to a vapor without becoming liquid. Then it recondenses back to a solid. That’s what happens […]
SPart 3. Freeze Dryer: Taking the leap: Ordering: Shipping: Set-up “But… it’s expensive…” Yes and no. Whatever you spend on putting up food today is nothing compared to how much the food will be worth when there’s none available in the stores. *If you don’t have $2,900 up front, Harvest […]
Part 4. Best mylar bags (my opinion) and oxygen absorbers The enemies of stored food are heat, light and oxygen. Mylar bags block light. Store jarred food where it’s dark. Generally between 50 and 70 degrees F. works best. Before you seal the lid put in the proper oxygen absorber. […]
Part 5. Freeze Drying: Odds and ends that make life easier. Pre Freezing: As mentioned, if you pre-freeze your trays, you’ll take hours off your freeze dryer run-time. Trays: Don’t use abrasive scrubbers on them. Consider buying an extra set of trays. They don’t cost much. If you mess one […]
Woodshed Autonomous Zone, Through No Fault of Our Own, Mostly (some alcohol involved) revives The Venerable WAZ Awards to honor the Top Black Racists of 2021 Introduction: It was April First. Fine, clear skies, temperatures up in the mid-40’s already. One of those days you feel the trees pulling […]
WAZ Awards 2021: Winner #1: Colin ‘The Swooshstika’ Kaepernick Gene (April Fools take the bait) On his way to pour another dram of single malt, Gene-Gene the Word Machine whispered into Al’s ear. They both looked sideways at Tim, who was looking the other way. Al spoke to Ira who […]
Top Black Racists of 2021: Winner #2: Professor Mutha Beep We gathered round the bunker the following week for Episode Two (Twelve if you count 2020) of the WAZ awards. Rhubarb buds were peeking out of the raised beds in places. No open leaves yet but it reminded Cosmo we […]