Mr. Rawles,
First, I’d like to thank you for your blog. It’s well worth the 10 Cent Challenge [voluntary subscription]! My question is about grain storage. We live on the outskirts of a big city and recently bought an old trailer on 25 acres in the country. It’s a three hour drive from where we are now and we can’t live there full time because of my husband’s job. I moved half of my bulk storage buckets (about 10) up there and during the winter it was fine but now it’s hot (in the 90’s) and humid during the day. We can’t leave the air conditioning running because the trailer is old and very drafty. With the country in the shape it’s in I’m really undecided if I should bring the buckets back or just leave them there. Will the heat really damage them or just shorten the life? In an emergency situation we may or may not be able to transport everything from point A to point B. We may be lucky just to get there with the clothes on our backs and it would nice to have supplies already positioned. What are your thought on this? Thanks and God Bless, – JM
JWR Replies: Grain suffers far less from heat than other storage foods. But the loss of nutritive value will accelerate, shortening the storage life. Wheat causes the least worries, but anything else–especially with a high oil content (such as brown rice) is at risk of going rancid at higher temperature. Those items should probably be moved back to where you can store it below 80 degrees. (Ideally, under 50 degrees, but few of us have even basements that stay that cool.) OBTW, the humidity should not be much of an issue if you are using properly sealed buckets (with o-rings in the lids.)
In the long term, unless there is a high water table at your retreat, you should put a priority on constructing a large root cellar at your retreat. Ideally, it should double as a fallout shelter. Because your property is not occupied regularly, your best bet is camouflaging the cellar entrance and exterior air vent(s) rather than trying to make a burglar-proof door. Given enough time, someone will bring a cutting torch and get through just about any door. Camouflaging a door with a large rubbish pile or a stack of old rotted cordwood usually works well. Your goal is to get the miscreants dismissively thinking: “There is nothing worth stealing here…” You can leave your almost empty trailer as bait, to distract their attention.