Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Food Storage in the Southern United States

Hello, I am searching for the answer to a question I am sure has been answered, but I have not been able to locate.  I live in Georgia and have been stocking up on foods.  I have very limited storage space in the house and have started to consider the need to move food stores out to the garage or up into the attic (I have no basement).  Our summers are extremely hot.  Many foods cannot be left in the extreme heat, and I am sure people in colder climates face the inverse problem.   It is not yet a issue for me, …


Into Bear Country, by George F.

As a result of moving into remote retreat areas, you may begin to have encounters with North America’s bear population. Even in suburban/urban areas, a lack of hunting and the return of forests has seen bears make a comeback, raising the likelihood of a bear-human encounters. Even if you live somewhere with a low likelihood of bear encounters, you should know the proper actions and make preparations, because bears can turn up anywhere. I’m going to outline the steps for bear camping, keeping your homestead secure from bears, traveling in bear country, tactics for a bear encounter, and bear defenses …


Long Distance Bug Out Planning, by J.B. in Georgia

There is a plethora of good, sound information and articles on SurvivalBlog.com that I have researched, absorbed, and adapted into much of what we have done to prepare.  I would like to personally extend my gratitude to all the contributors of this subject and let them know that the information they have freely shared has been very helpful.  In addition, there are countless other informative sites, books, and organizations gained from this web site that has also been very useful.  This article describes our particular situation, the challenges, and planning to make our escape from the crowded suburbs of Atlanta …


Moving to An Asset-Orientated Life by Greg G.

If you’re a long-time reader of this blog you know what to do to get prepared. Stock up on food for short and near term survival, find a location where like minded people live. Become physically fit and active, and train in self defense. But all of these things cost money. My article goes towards moving to an asset orientated lifestyle to achieve your goals. When you’re cash poor, it is tough to even think about planning. If you read these articles about guns and survival food, and retreat locations and wonder, while the dispute between .223 and .308 is …


A Widow’s View of Preparedness, by Catherine T.

I am a widow of over three years whose youngest son was serving our country in the Middle East when my husband’s death happened.  My husband lost his job and was forced into early retirement before his death.  I will not go into the details of all the turmoil then and of having a child home with injuries of war.  In a SHTF situation there will be many people with war injuries in our own neighborhoods.  My other children and I are so glad he is still alive.  My income dropped further not long after this.   It was the end …


The Fourth Essential, by Bob B.

As any survivalist quickly learns, the “three basic essentials” to survival are air, water and shelter. However, I learned to realize that there is a fourth basic essential, that being a stove–which provides a way to reliably purify the water, cook the food and make the shelter more comfortable. Of course, there are many types of water filters, solar ovens and warmer clothing for those needs but, somewhere along the line, the ongoing need for a practical, portable, concealable, quick and highly-efficient means of heating will be needed. SHTF heating that can purify your water, cook your food and warm …


Bare Bones Survival, by Blake R.

With an endless and ever-growing supply of preparedness items and gadgets for TEOTWAWKI, it is easy to forget where we all came from.  Each and every one of us alive on this planet today is in large part due to the sheer will, strength, and survival ability of our ancestors.  We are all, literally, direct descendants of the toughest and smartest humans the world has ever seen.  Our ancestors were the ones who survived plagues and diseases of all types, hunted the largest of beasts, survived harsher conditions than most of us can imagine, always procured food, and still managed …


Common Sense Cooking in a Grid Down World, by Linda in North Carolina

My husband tells it the best: the utility power was out for miles around after the transformers blew. Driving up to our home in a darkened neighborhood after a harrowing commute, our house shined with soft glow outside of solar lights along the driveway and in the windows, candle light flickered inside, food was cooking out back on what appeared to be a stack of blocks, music from a wind up radio played in the background and my wife handed me a steaming mug of hot chocolate as I walked in. No generator in use….no power….yet warmth and reassuring life …



Letter Re: Sourdough Bread Baking

James, 35 years ago I knew a very old Sourdough mountain man who lived very high up in the Colorado Rockies.  He once told me you could leaven bread with the yeast that grows on aspen tree bark.  Rubbing your hands on the bark of the aspen tree will remove a bunch of white powder that he claimed was very close to bread yeast.  I never heard of this before and have never tried it.  If any of your readers know about this or would be willing to try it, this would be a very good survival skill to know.  …


Letter Re: Sourdough Bread Baking

Dear Mr. Rawles, Another advantage of sourdough bread is that it is lower on the glycemic index than most other breads and is better for diabetics and people with blood sugar problems. As a diabetic myself, it’s about the only kind of bread I eat and would be very useful in a survival situation in which I would be forced to to regulate my sugar levels with diet. – Burke in Ormond Beach, Florida


Sourdough Bread Baking, by Sarah in California

You may have a years worth of wheat (or more) stored, but will you be able to make it into bread and other baked goods after TEOTWAWKI?  Sourdough is the solution for preppers.  No need to worry about expiration dates on your commercial yeast packets, a properly cared for sourdough starter can last indefinitely, providing an unlimited source of yeast.  There are several known sourdough starters in the United States that are over 100 years old. Sourdough is a method of bread preparation that has been used for thousands of years.  It probably originated in Egypt around 1500 BC and was …


Digging a Root Cellar/Storm Cellar, by Marlene in Indiana

We decided that our family needed a root cellar for maintaining root crops, cold storage and for more extensive water storage, here is our story. Hopefully, others can learn from us and not make the same mistakes. One Sunday afternoon, we went out to the yard and sized up the area we wanted, and marked our spot. Our property borders Federal land that occasionally has people lingering around, we have even caught people in our other shelters on the back of our property, so I wanted to keep this one as close to the house as possible. When we purchased …


Visits to a LDS Cannery, by Mrs. R.L.B.

This is a little like a “how I spent my summer vacation” story, as I spent mine learning how to can the #10 cans of dried food at a local Latter Day Saints (Mormon) cannery.  The canneries are also referred to as Home Storage Centers.  I have to say up front, I have heard that different canneries may differ in policy regarding non-Mormons using their facilities, but I had the most wonderful experience in Reno with the good people of their cannery.  God bless them for welcoming me with open arms.    Let me explain briefly the “summer vacation” comment.  My …


Four Letters Re: Hurricane Sandy After Action Reports

Good day, Mr Rawles… Here in West Virginia, we have experienced a wide variety of weather from Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy.  Last Friday, it began raining well ahead of storm making landfall. Rains continued off and on thru the weekend, gradually increasing in steady rains all day Sunday and well into Monday. Around 7 pm our local time, that rain turned to snow and that’s when things began to get interesting.  I tend to be a light sleeper so it was the ‘sound’ of power going off at 2:34 am on Saturday morning that awakened me for the day.  I got coffee …