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Production
Food Production is the process of producing food for survival and preparedness.
Where to Get Cheap Five Gallon Food Grade Buckets
Five gallon buckets, when it comes to survival and preparedness have an unlimited number of uses, not to mention they are extremely handy for everyday uses. We have used buckets to store everything from food storage items to nails. Bulk foods, such as beans, powdered milk and honey can be purchased in five gallon buckets, or you can buy bulk food locally and repackage in food grade five gallon buckets. Repackaging bulk foods from boxes or bags into air tight five gallon buckets will help avoid devastating problems such as bugs, mice or moisture from destroying food storage items
It is important to make sure buckets used for food storage come with lids that contain a rubber seal for air and moisture resistance. Many times, you can find used five gallon buckets, but the lid is missing or compromised, new lids purchased with the rubber seal to create a new air and moisture resistant storage container. Gamma seal lids are an excellent choice where the contents of the bucket will accessed frequently. The gamma seal lids have an air tight top that is easily screwed on and off for frequent access tot he contents without have to pry and snap tight lids on and off. It is important to remember, non food grade or buckets that have had chemicals in them should not be used for food storage.
As I mentioned earlier, five gallon buckets can be used to store much more than food. Many items need to be kept dry such as fasteners: (nails, screws, nuts and bolts), ammunition, photos, precious metals (who would look for valuable metals in a five gallon bucket labeled beans!!!), etc. Five gallon buckets can be stacked as high as you can reach do they are excellent space savers.
Five gallon buckets not only can be used for food storage, but also food production. You can fill a five gallon bucket with dirt, plant seeds, and you have a mobile garden. Drill or cut a small hole in the bottom, just big enough to put a plant through, but so it will still hold the root ball, hang the bucket up by the handle and you can grow plants out the top and the bottom.
I have just briefly touched on a few uses for five gallon buckets and with a little thinking outside the box or bucket, you could come up with a long list of uses for five gallon buckets.
Visit our store for more preparedness and survival supplies, thanks. SOS General Store
Chia Seeds Sprouts and More, Essential Survival Food
Sprouts are like super foods which contain vitamins, minerals, anti-biotic agents, and cell rebuilding nutrients for the body. Grow it on your kitchen counter that will be safe from radiation fallout. Many have not even heard of eating other kinds of sprouts other than those sold in their local stores or Brussels sprouts. However, there are many different types of sprouts to grow right on your kitchen counter that is delicious, healthy and extremely easy to grow. This is one fact that no one in the world should starve unless you are lost in the desert and don’t know what to eat. You can grow these in any shelter as long as you have a little water to grow them with. You can grow them in your BOL tent or in a high rise apartment building. Anywhere in the world you can grow sprouts no matter what time of year it is or how cold or hot it is outside.
Some of the different kinds of Sprouts are: Chia Sprouts (yes even those little chia pets are edible) Click here for Chia Seeds
Garlic sprouts, Radish sprouts, Alfalfa Sprouts, Clover Sprouts, Onion Sprouts, Cress Sprouts, Mustard Sprouts, Arugula Sprouts, Fenugreek Sprouts, Broccoli Sprouts, Sunflower Sprouts (You can buy those large bags of sunflower seeds for birds cheap) Then there are the many bean sprouts and grass sprouts and the list goes on and on.
Now what else would you need besides growing your own safe food on the kitchen table? A few large buckets of salad dressing and some mixed nuts. Add to your salad anything you want to make it a delicious meal that will keep you looking forward to the next meal. Adding things like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, raisons, or what ever you want to add for taste with your favorite salad dressing makes not only growing it fun, but eating it too. Sprouts will grow under a 100 watt grow lamp. This isn’t much electricity if you want to grow sprouts in the middle of Alaska during mid winter when it is dark 24 hours a day. If you have a power outage, a 150 watt inverter and your grow lamp will keep the sprouts growing with just using a car battery. If you want to use LED colored Christmas lights to grow your sprouts that will work too and that only uses 10 watts of electricity. Imagine what you can do with all that food you can grow right on your counter in your own home, safe from outside radiation fallout and safe from animals spoiling it or eating it. Food you can live on for the rest of your life if you had to. Best of Good health to you all.
Collecting and Storing Seeds from Your Garden
Collecting and Storing Seeds from Your Garden
Storing seeds from your garden is an important survival skill. However, many people do not have the time or knowledge to save seeds, so buying and have extra seeds in your food storage is a must. Buying Heirloom seeds is critical as hybrid seeds have many deficiencies. Click here to check out our hermetically sealed Heirloom seeds.
One of the first requirements for growing a successful garden is finding good seed from plant varieties that have been adapted to your area. Many companies provide such seed. When you calculate the value of the food you grow, you will find that high-quality seed is a bargain.
At some time, though, you may want to collect, store, and plant seed from your own garden rather than buy the seed. This fact sheet describes how to save seeds from a variety of plants.
Collecting seeds
Don’t save seeds from vegetables or flowers labeled “hybrid.” Seeds from hybrid varieties produce a mixture of plant types, most of which are inferior to the parent. Many varieties could be hybrids but may not be designated as such.
Seeds easily saved
Tomato
1. Save seed from the fully ripe fruit of the desired tomato plant.
2. Squeeze the seeds onto a paper towel or a piece of screen.
3. Leave the seeds at room temperature until they are thoroughly dry.
Pepper
Select a mature pepper, preferably one turning red, and allow it to turn completely red before extracting the seeds. Place seeds on a towel or a piece of screen until they are thoroughly dry.
Eggplant, husk tomato (groundcherry), garden huckleberry
Separate seeds from the mature fruit and dry thoroughly at room temperature.
Beans, peas, soybeans
1. Leave pods on the plant until they are “rattle dry.”
2. Watch the pods carefully because some varieties split and scatter the seeds when they are dry.
3. Pick dried pods and place them in a well-ventilated area at room temperature. When the pods are completely dry, remove the seeds.
4. To control possible weevil infestation, place seeds in a freezer for 24 to 30 hours.
Lettuce
Lettuce seeds are more difficult to collect, but you can save them.
1. Leave a plant or two to produce a seed stalk.
2. After the plant blooms and the flower forms a miniature “dandelion head,” gather the seeds.
3. Separate the seeds from the chaff by rubbing them with your fingers.
Seeds difficult to save
Vine crops: cucumber, melons, squash, and pumpkins
It usually doesn’t pay to save these seeds. Without controlled pollination, these crops cross with other varieties and sometimes other types. Muskmelons do not cross with cucumbers, however.
You can control pollination in your garden, but it requires careful attention. First, you need to distinguish between male and female flowers. Male blossoms are on a longer stalk and do not have a miniature fruit at the base as do female blossoms.
1. With careful observation, note the blossoms that will open the following day. They have a light yellow color and a distinct pointed tip.
2. In the evening, select male and female flowers on the same plant. With a paper clip for small flowers or a rubber band for larger flowers, prevent the flower from opening. Flowers open only early in the day.
3. In the morning, pluck the male blossom and touch the cluster of pollen (called anthers) to the center of the female flower (called the stigma).
4. Close the female flower again so bees can’t get in.
5. Tag the blossom.
6. Grow the fruit to maturity for the desired seed.
The fruit must be very ripe for seeds to germinate correctly. Cucumbers must be entirely yellow, and squash and pumpkin must be thoroughly mature. Separate the seeds from the fruit flesh and dry them at room temperature.
Biennials: carrot, beet, onion, and cabbage family
Biennials are questionable for seed collection. It takes a lot of work to carry over the plant root from the first season to the second year when seed stalks form. Many members of the cabbage family intercross and also can cross with native wild crucifers such as mustard, cress, radish, or turnip.
* Carrots cross with the prevalent wild carrot. Select desirable beet or carrot roots and keep them cool and moist, perhaps buried outdoors in sand. In early spring, plant the roots in an uncrowded area of the garden because they grow very large.
* Keep onion bulbs cool and dry during the winter, then plant them in early spring.
After spring growth, seed heads form. When heads are quite dry, gather the mature, plump seed before it falls to the ground, and complete the drying at room temperature.
Flower seeds
You can save many flower seeds, though crossing some varieties can cause deterioration from the original over time.
* Gather mature seed pods (stock and poppies) or seed clusters (zinnia, strawflower).
* Leave sunflower heads on the plant as long as birds don’t bother them. When the top of the blossom separates from the seed, or birds start eating the seeds, cut the head and finish curing the seed in a warm, ventilated area. You also can eat seeds or use them as bird feed after the seeds dry.
Storing seeds
Keep seeds in a labeled container or envelope in a cool, dry place where they are protected from insects. Storage life of seeds varies widely. Here is a guide:
* Short-lived seeds (1-2 years): corn, onion, parsley, parsnip, pepper
* Intermediate seeds (3-4 years): asparagus, bean, broccoli, carrot, celery, leek, pea, spinach
* Long-lived seeds (4-5 years): beet, chard, cabbage family (brussels sprouts, cauliflower), turnip, radish, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, muskmelon, pumpkin-squash group, tomato, watermelon
An ideal way to prepare seed for long-term storage is to place seed packets in a jar, seal the jar tightly and place it in a refrigerator or freezer. To help absorb moisture, place a small, cloth bag filled with dry, powdered milk beneath the seed packets in the bottom of the jar. Use about 1/2 cup of dry milk from a recently opened package.
Test germination
To test seeds for germination before planting:
1. Moisten two or three layers of paper towels.
2. Place 25 to 50 seeds on the towels and roll the towels loosely. Place them in a plastic bag.
3. Keep the towels in a warm place such as on a kitchen counter or on top of a water heater.
4. Some seed, such as radish, germinates in 2 or 3 days. Peppers can take 10 to 14 days. Observe the seed at 2-day intervals to determine the degree of germination.
Originally written by Duane Hatch, former Extension agent, Lane County, Oregon State University. Revised by N.S. Mansour, Extension horticulture specialist, Oregon State University.
Revised January 1999. Reprinted May 2003.