"Food Storage" by Featherstone, May 1976, Part 2

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Here is the second half of Bishop Featherstone's talk:

The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm commitment, for every Latter-day Saint family to have a year’s supply of food reserves by April 1977. All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place; the way will be opened, and next April we will have our storage areas filled. We will prove through our actions our willingness to follow our beloved prophet and the Brethren, which will bring security to us and our families.

Now regarding home production: Raise animals where means and local laws permit. Plant fruit trees, grapevines, berry bushes, and vegetables. You will provide food for your family, much of which can be eaten fresh. Other food you grow can be preserved and included as part of your home storage. Wherever possible, produce your nonfood necessities of life. Sew and mend your own clothing. Make or build needed items. I might also add, beautify, repair, and maintain all of your property.

Home production of food and nonfood items is a way to stretch your income and to increase your skills and talents. It is a way to teach your family to be self-sufficient. Our children are provided with much needed opportunities to learn the fundamentals of work, industry, and thrift. President Romney has said, “We will see the day when we will live on what we produce.” (Conference Reports, April 1975, p. 165.)

I should like to address a few remarks to those who ask, “Do I share with my neighbors who have not followed the counsel? And what about the nonmembers who do not have a year’s supply? Do we have to share with them?” No, we don’t have to share—we get to share! Let us not be concerned about silly thoughts of whether we would share or not. Of course we would share! What would Jesus do? I could not possibly eat food and see my neighbors starving. And if you starve to death after sharing, “greater love hath no man than this …” (John 15:13.)

Now what about those who would plunder and break in and take that which we have stored for our families’ needs? Don’t give this one more idle thought. There is a God in heaven whom we have obeyed. Do you suppose he would abandon those who have kept his commandments? He said, “If ye are prepared, ye need not fear.” (D&C 38:30.) Prepare, O men of Zion, and fear not. Let Zion put on her beautiful garments. Let us put on the full armor of God. Let us be pure in heart, love mercy, be just, and stand in holy places. Commit to have a year’s supply of food by April 1977.

Bishops and stake presidents, let us accept the challenge on behalf of the Saints in our wards and stakes. It will prove to be a very Christlike deed on your part. Follow through and check up one year from now and make certain we achieve results.

In his October 1973 conference address, President Ezra Taft Benson gave some excellent instructions about home storage:

“For the righteous the gospel provides a warning before a calamity, a program for the crises, a refuge for each disaster. …

“The Lord has warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to prophets and stored at least a year’s supply of survival food. …

“Brethren and sisters, I know that this welfare program is inspired of God. I have witnessed with my own eyes the ravages of hunger and destitution as, under the direction of the president of the Church, I spent a year in war-torn Europe at the close of World War II, without my family, distributing food, clothing, and bedding to our needy members. I have looked into the sunken eyes of Saints, in almost the last stages of starvation. I have seen faithful mothers carrying their children, three and four years of age, who were unable to walk because of malnutrition. I have seen a hungry woman turn down food for a spool of thread. I have seen grown men weep as they ran their hands through the wheat and beans sent to them from Zion—America.

“Thanks be to God for a prophet, for this inspired program, and for Saints who so managed their stewardship that they could provide for their own and still share with others.” (“Prepare Ye,” Ensign, Jan. 1974, pp. 69, 81–82.)

I bear my humble witness to you that the great God of heaven will open doors and means in a way we never would have supposed to help all those who truly want to get their year’s supply. I know we will have time and money if we will commit and keep the commitment. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

"Food Storage" by Featherstone, May 1976, Part 1

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This is one of the most quoted Conference talks about food storage. Here is the first half of Bishop Featherstone's talk:

I suggest that one year from today we ought to have a year’s supply of food... Now here are some suggestions how:

1. Follow the prophet. He has counseled us to plant a garden and fruit trees. This year don’t just think about it—do it. Grow all the food you possibly can. Also remember to buy a year’s supply of garden seeds so that, in case of a shortage, you will have them for the following spring. I’m going to tell you where to get the money for all the things I’m going to suggest.

2. Find someone who sells large bulk of grains, depending on your locale. Make arrangements to buy a ton or so of grain.

3. Find someone who sells honey in large containers and make arrangements to buy what you can afford on a regular basis or buy a little additional sugar each time you go to the store.

4. Purchase dry milk from the store or dairy, on a systematic basis.

5. Buy a case of salt the next time you go to the store. In most areas, 24 one-pound packages will cost you less than $5.

6. Store enough water for each member of your family to last for at least two weeks....



Now you ask, “Where do I get the money for these things?.....”

Here is how you do it.

1. Decide as a family this year that 25 or 50 percent of your Christmas will be spent on a year’s supply. Many families in the Church spend considerable sums of money for Christmas. Half or part of these Christmas monies will go a long way toward purchasing the basics. I recall the Scotsman who went to the doctor and had an X-ray taken of his chest. Then he had the X-ray gift-wrapped and gave it to his wife for their anniversary. He couldn’t afford a gift, but he wanted her to know his heart was in the right place. Brethren, give your wife a year’s supply of wheat for Christmas, and she’ll know your heart is in the right place.

2. When you desire new clothes, don’t buy them. Repair and mend and make your present wardrobe last a few months longer. Use that money for the food basics. Make all of your nonfood necessities that you feasibly can, such as furniture and clothing.

3. Cut the amount of money you spend on recreation by 50 percent. Do fun things that do not require money outlay but make more lasting impressions on your children.

4. Decide as a family that there will be no vacation or holiday next year unless you have your year’s supply. Many Church members could buy a full year’s supply of the basics from what they would save by not taking a vacation. Take the vacation time and work on a family garden. Be together, and it can be just as much fun.

5. If you haven’t a year’s supply yet and you do have boats, snowmobiles, campers, or other luxury possessions, sell or trade one or two or more of them and get your year’s supply.

6. Watch advertised specials in the grocery stores and pick up extra supplies of those items that are of exceptional value.

7. Change the mix in your family’s diet. Get your protein from sources less expensive than meat. The grocery bill is one bill that can be cut. Every time you enter the store and feel tempted by effective and honest merchandising to buy cookies, candy, ice cream, non-food items, or magazines—don’t! Think carefully; buy only the essentials. Then figure what you have saved and spend it on powdered milk, sugar, honey, salt, or grain.

First Time to Wax Cheese

I melted the cheese wax in the double boiler, and dipped the cheese in. I let it cool and then dipped the other side.

I had to dip each piece at least 4 times, then, in addition, I also painted the melted wax on with a special boar-bristle brush to make the wax thick enough.

After I thought it was thick enough, I wrote a label and stuck it on with melted wax. Then did one more coat over the label.

I had purchased the cheddar and parmesan cheese for half price at Harris Teeter. The swiss didn't work at all, I won't do swiss again. But the cheddar and parmesan was easy to do.

Here is all the cheese I did at one time.

Preserving Cheese with Wax

I am so happy to have found this blog post by Kellene Bishop telling how to preserve cheese using wax! After waxing, it will keep for up to 25 years!
http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/cheese-wax-will-save-us-all-2/

So I found this source for buying some red cheese wax, and a boar bristle brush.
http://www.cheesemaking.com/cheesemakingnecessities.html

The red cheese wax costs:

$5.50 for 1 pound, or
$20 for 5 pounds, or
$35 for 10 pounds.

Then I bought a used set of double boiler pan on Craigslist for cheap.

And I bought some cheese on half price. I'll show what I did with it on tomorrow's post.

More about waxing cheese to preserve it.

http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/settling-the-cheese-wax-controversy/

Flashlights with Alternative Power

I keep looking for flashlights that don't use batteries. Here are some I have found in local stores:



You squeeze the lever over and over on this one to charge it. $2 at Northern Tool at South Hills Mall, Cary.



$10.88, Walmart, Morrisville. You wind this crank around and around.



You shake this one to charge it. $6 at Northern Tool in South Hills Mall in Cary.

Self-reliance

(Just a reminder, the baby quilt service project is tonight at the stake center, 6:30 pm. Bring scissors. Then the Relief Society broadcast starts at 8:00 pm.)


Self-reliance is drawing upon our own resources to care for ourselves and our families before calling upon others for help. A person may be self-reliant and still not be fully self-sustaining. Having done all possible for self, he or she may still need additional resources. Many aged people and those with disabilities are self-reliant, but still need additional assistance. We are all children of our Heavenly Father and are dependent upon Him for all that we have. However, He will not do for us what we can do for ourselves, and He expects us to be self-reliant.

"Independence and self-reliance are critical keys to our spiritual growth. Whenever we get into a situation which threatens our self-reliance, we will find our freedom threatened as well. If we increase our dependence, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act" (Marion G. Romney, Ensign, June 1984, 5).

"Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked upon as the prerequisite to service, when we also know service is what godhood is all about? Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak" (Marion G. Romney, Ensign, June 1984, 6).

(From the Provident Living website)

Bottles of Water Per Day

(Each photo shows one day of water use.)

Last week, while I was doing the 7-Day Challenge, there were two different days where I had to pretend that I had no tap water.

There are three of us in our house. But two of them were mostly gone all day, so they used water elsewhere. I was very frugal with my bottles of water, so this is not too realistic (I did no laundry, washed very few dishes, didn't wash my hair, and hardly flushed the toilets.) But you can see how many bottles of water I used (for drinking, cooking, flushing toilets and washing hands) on each of the days.

This is THE VERY MINIMUM I would possibly plan on. There is no way I could have lived on less than this, and I could definitely have used a lot more.

Car Emergency Kits

CAR EMERGENCY KITS
Another part of the Day 6 Challenge was to stay stranded in your car for an hour while you are changing a tire, and see if you have what you need. I didn't do that (I changed the tire in my driveway) but I got prepared for having car trouble by making emergency kits for each of our vehicles. I painted "Emergency Kit" on several containers, and filled them with things like flashlights, first aid items, mylar emergency blankets, diapers for our grandkids, duct tape, umbrella, some cash, a magic marker, and heavy paper to make signs with. I also put some bottles of water in my trunk, and a box of Cheerios in case I am stranded with the grandkids. I'm hoping the heat won't ruin the Cheerios.



Then, for the 7th day of the challenge on Monday, we were supposed to:

" Organize your kitchen pantry, and food storage areas. Inventory your long term food storage and three-month storage items. Make a complete list of what you still need to buy." I had already done a lot of those over the past six months, so I was pretty much done.

I feel good about the things I learned on the 7-Day Challenge, and plan to do it again next September.

Day 6 Challenge: Change a Tire

Day 6 Challenge- Stranded with a Flat Tire.

I couldn't get this done on Sunday, so Monday morning I forced myself to change a tire on my car. Wayne stood by and gave directions, but the rules said that he couldn't do any of the work.

First, I had to find the spare tire and jack under the floor of the trunk. I got out the spare (it wasn't too heavy for me), also an outdoor blanket to sit on.

I tried to take off the hubcaps but they were really tricky. Wayne had to show me how to do that or I may not have figured it out.

Then I had to take off the lugnuts. They had been tightened by the auto shop using a torque wrench, so they were on much too tight. The regular wrench that came with the car was no good, I couldn't get any torque with it.

Luckily, we had a star wrench. Turning it by hand didn't work.



The only way I got the lugnuts to budge was by stepping on one handle while I pulled up on another handle with all my might, as you can see in the second photo. I nearly gave up, it was so difficult. But I finally succeeded in loosening them all.





Then we looked at the owner's manual to find out where to put the jack. I had to lay on the blanket on the ground to find where to attach it.

Then I raised the car up on the jack until I could see light under the tire.

I took the lugnuts off and put them inside the center cap of the hubcap. (See example in photo.) When you change a tire on the side of the road, you can easily lose the lugnuts in the grass if you don't put them inside the hubcap. Another thing you can see in this photo is the wrench that comes with the jack. That wrench was worthless to get the lugnuts off, remember ladies, you HAVE to buy a star wrench.




I knelt on the blanket while lifting off the very heavy tire.

I put on spare, and had to learn which way the lugnuts went on. I had to tighten them up in a star pattern.

Then when I went to put the old tire into the trunk, it was too heavy, so I had to wrap it in the blanket and lift it up against my body, to load it into the trunk. The whole thing took about 45 minutes. (Of course, then I had to do everything in reverse to put the tire back onto the car.)

THINGS I LEARNED:

Pay AAA to change your tires. But if you can't do that....

Keep an old blanket in your trunk. I used it throughout the whole ordeal, to sit on, kneel on, lay on, and wrap the tire for picking it up. At one point I even wrapped it around the star wrench handle for padding because the metal hurt my hand when I was pulling so hard.

Women aren't strong enough to use the wrench that comes with the car. Buy a star wrench, you can get better torque by stepping on one handle while you push up with your hands on the other handle. There is no way I could have loosened the lugnuts without this.

Day 5 Challenge- Extreme Weather Conditions

(Sorry, it has taken me a few days to load this post. I've been having internet trouble.)

Day 5- SATURDAY- NATURAL DISASTER- EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS

This was the challenge for Saturday. Depending on where you live, pick an extreme weather emergency common to your area and live it. (I chose conditions after a hurricane and during an ice storm. You will notice that I changed quite a few of the rules to make them fit the conditions for these two weather situations.) They said "you have water, but you don't have electricity or natural gas." I chose to say we have water, we don't have electricity, but WE DO have natural gas.

They said my fridge food is ruined, but I say my fridge food is fine, because right after a hurricane eating up your fridge food is the first thing you need to do. So today we are eating out of our fridge, and cooking in the solar oven and on the camp stove.

Note: We have not been able to buy anything from the store since Monday, Sept. 13. We ran out of real milk on Wednesday. So we have been living on powdered milk, powdered eggs, and all the food storage we have in our house.

My own personal goals for the day:

Cook more food in the solar oven.

About 11:00 am I mixed some banana bread batter, and put it into a bundt pan (the bundt pan was shiny aluminum and it should have been dark, but I don't own a dark one yet.) I put the pan into the preheated solar oven at 11:35. It baked for 1 hr and 25 min. and the temperature reached 325 degrees. I got it out at 1:00.

While it was in the solar oven, I put water and raw vegetables in a black pot, inside a clear oven-roasting bag, sitting on an aluminum pie pan to reflect the heat, and set it out in the sun to pre warm.

After I took the banana bread out of the solar oven, I immediately put the black pot into the solar oven at 1:00. When I opened the oven to switch the food, the temperature dropped from 325 to 250 degrees. Within 25 minutes it was back up to 320.

I cooked the vegetables for 40 minutes, the water wasn't boiling yet even though the thermometer said 320. But the carrots were a little softer than raw (I like them crunchy) so they were almost done.

Learn to use our camping stove.
I am afraid of fire so I don't like to use camp stoves or grills or matches. But our stove was surprisingly easy to light. I boiled some water in a coffeepot placed on the top.


Figure out how to hang blankets around our stairwell to trap the heat in the downstairs if we have to use our gas log to heat our living room.
We could put a board across and nail it into the wall, and fasten or nail a blanket to that. It will make holes in the wall, but they will be relatively easy to patch and paint later. It will be easier to stay warm in the one room with the gas log if we have the stairwell blocked off. Otherwise, all the heat will rise into the upstairs.

Things I learned:

After so many days without real milk, I finally drank some cold powdered milk (because I wanted milk with my banana bread.) I found that if I added a little vanilla to my glass of milk, it tasted a tiny bit like melted vanilla ice cream instead of that stale powdered milk flavor. It was actually good that way. I will never drink powdered milk plain again, I will always add vanilla from now on. (Note to self: Buy more vanilla for my food storage.)

Using my food storage in the past couple of years, I have learned that stocking up on Wheat Thins or mayonnaise or olives, etc. when they are on a really good sale is a great way to save money. I went to the grand opening of a grocery store near my home this week (yes, I was cheating on the Challenge because I wanted to see their Grand Opening prices, but I ended up not buying anything so technically I didn't actually cheat) and I couldn't find a single thing to buy for food storage. All of their loss leaders were things I had already stocked up on, and I didn't need any more. That tells me that most of my food has been purchased at the lowest prices I could find them during the year.

Evicted Family Moves In (Fake)

Yesterday (Friday) the challenge on http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/ was supposed to be having a family move in with you unexpectedly. I was supposed to make enough food all day for 6 extra people, who were vegetarians, and see if I had enough sleeping arrangements and hygiene items for everyone, and see if I had enough food for that many people.

Honestly, I was tired after spending almost full-time on Tues, Wed, and Thursday doing mock disasters, so I took Friday off.

But I did take stock of my supplies:

I know I have enough toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, towels, and blankets. I probably need to get some more sheets. I have a blowup mattress and three other foam mattresses, plus about 5 camping foam mattresses.

Here is a hint for storing extra blankets. They are very puffy and take up a lot of room in the linen closet. Instead of folding them and keeping them in the linen closet, I lay out a couple of blankets on each box springs or bed springs, and then lay the mattress on top of that. That enables each bed to have a couple of extra blankets stored right underneath.

Having extra blankets makes me feel good, because in this area we have ice storms where the power goes out, and the blankets will help us keep warm in a situation like that.

EMP Attack- No water, no power on Thursday

Written Sept. 16, 2010 Thursday

We have already had (Tues) a day without any water, and (Wed) cooking from scratch. On Wednesday I was relieved to have water, so I took a shower and washed my hair, and did all the laundry and cleaned the kitchen. I didn't expect to be without water again. And of course I didn't take a shower this morning, I should have done that before checking the computer. I looked at the email from http://FoodStorageMadeEasy.net/ , and DANG! I found out the challenge for today is a double whammy, no power and no water!

DAY THREE CHALLENGE: TERRORIST ATTACK, EMP: ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE

The EMP has rendered all electricity and electrical devices in your entire country to be useless (including municipal water pumps). Pretend the food in the fridge has already gone bad. Can't use any electronics, except the computer to report on this challenge. Can't drive. Can't communicate with your family. It is interesting, I learned a new word: TEOTWAYKI. That means "The End of the World as You Know It". Thats what we're supposed to be living today.

ASSIGNMENT: Cook and clean up all of your meals without power or water.
ASSIGNMENT: Grind wheat by hand and use it in a recipe today.

I stupidly left a half dishwasher of dirty dishes last night, I should have known better. But I'm just going to leave them in there, and run the dishwasher tomorrow.

We have lots and lots of paper plates and paper towels. I am so glad, because on a day like today we are really going through them.

I just ordered a solar oven, so now is the day to learn how to use it. I just hope it is sunny enough.

I opened the solar oven, set it all up. I had read that you should preheat all your ingredients, so while I was setting it up I put lasagna noodles (uncooked) in a black bottle and set that in the sun. Then I put a pot of water inside the solar oven. It took about an hour to heat to 300 degrees, so I opened the oven and added the warmed noodles to the water and closed the glass. The oven had dropped to 250 degrees. It took 40 minutes until I saw that the glass was all foggy and I heard boiling. I took out the noodles and they were cooked.



I had poured a can of spaghetti sauce into another black jar, it was warming in the sun for one hour. I am just going to pour that over the noodles when it is warm. It doesn't need to boil. (It heated the sauce to 110 degrees.)

The oven was empty, so I started my next item. I added preheated water from another black jar to a package of Zatarain's Black Beans and Rice. Cooked it for 45 minutes in a pot, and it was done. (The thermometer said 310 degrees.)

Then I had made cornbread batter (using a little wheat flour) and put it into two round cake pans, stacked on top of each other with a grill in between. Before I opened the oven, it was 300 degrees, but after I put the cornbread in, it had dropped to 250 degrees. I baked them in the solar oven for 50 minutes before it was done. It was good corn bread.





While I had all those bottles out in the sun, I thought of something else. I had some honey that had gone hard. I put the bottle inside an oven-roasting plastic bag, and sat that in an aluminum baking pan, to reflect the heat up onto the honey bottle. I left it in the sun for more than an hour, and most of the honey had turned back into liquid.

I know that wasn't a very good mixture of food items, but I wanted to boil something, prepare something from a box, and bake something.

(Note: I didn't use my hand wheat grinder today, but I had just used it two weeks ago and I knew how to use it. I didn't want to get it out and clean it up afterward so I didn't do that.)

ASSIGNMENT: No water.
Once again, I got a pop bottle full of frozen water out of my freezer and have been drinking from that all day. I love ice water!
I set bottles of water near every sink in the bathrooms and kitchen. Only flushed the toilets a few times. One flush takes 3 sodapop bottles full of water.

ASSIGNMENT: No electricity.

Well, I didn't flip my breakers. But I did put tape over all my light switches, because I found myself turning on lights without thinking. The garage was dark, had to use a flashlight. I just bought a bunch of Shaking powered flashlights for $6 at Northern Tools (you shake them to generate power) and a bunch of Squeeze powered flashlights for $2 at Northern Tools (you squeeze a little lever a bunch of times to generate power) so I am all set with flashlights everywhere. We'll see how we do tonight.

(Later) My husband taught me how to turn on his new lantern, it was easy. So we had a lantern sitting in the kitchen and we all stayed in there all evening. It was the only light in the house. Other than that, we used flashlights.

ASSIGNMENT: Walk or ride a bike anywhere you need to go today.
I stayed home all day.

ASSIGNMENT: Entertain yourself and your kids without electricity the entire day.

I had to get on the computer to get the challenge, so I checked my email and answered the things that were pressing. I didn't check the news or the weather or any other interesting websites that I usually check each day. THEN I PULLED THE PLUG ON THE COMPUTER. So I won't be getting back on the internet today.(Got back on at night to load this post.)

I got on my laptop, because I have been typing my 7-Day Challenge experiences each day. I decided to leave this laptop on and use it without plugging it in and without the internet. I will see how long the battery lasts.

I kept singing to myself, and my first thought would be, Oh, I need to turn on some music, but then I couldn't. Or, I'll just turn on the TV while I'm doing this, but I couldn't. Its amazing how I always have something on to entertain myself when I am alone in the house.

I kept meaning to read scriptures during the day but I read them after it was dark so I had to use a flashlight.

ASSIGNMENT: Turn off air conditioner.
Okay, I totally cheated on this one. We just spent a bunch of money to have our air conditioner fixed and I don't care about getting points for this one. I do not want to be hot, I will live through hotness when a real disaster comes.

ASSIGNMENT: At some point today (make it a surprise for your family) you see a pack of looters making their way through your neighborhood. You have 15 minutes to collect your grab list items and one meal worth of food. Evacuate on foot to a nearby park and stay away from home for 2 hours.

Never did that.

ASSIGNMENT: Jot down some ideas on how you would live and function in a sustained post-EMP environment.
I would learn to do more things during the daylight and less things after dark. I would rearrange my life so that I would be cooking most of every day.


ASSIGNMENT: (Optional) Stay away from home the entire day without your car, with all your grab list items, eating only out of your disaster kit, for 5 extra points.
Didn't do it today, but I did live out of my 72-hour kit on the day I went to Washington D.C. for a huge rally on 8-28. Had to carry my food and water for the day. It is really hard to lug everything around. I learned what I do and do not like to eat in a 72 hour kit.