Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: December 22 ~ 28, 2019

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Good Morning, All! Hope this Christmas week finds you all as stress free as possible; and that you are able to spend time with folks who make you smile :snta:

I'm currently scheduled for one family gathering - that with daughter's crew - and we aren't sure if that will happen tomorrow evening or Christmas morning - still trying to work out everyone's schedules! I work Christmas eve night shift, so I wouldn't be able to stay awake and non-grouchy long enough to go to MIL's lunch gathering on Christmas day - which is why we went to the church soup supper last weekend, it counted as a family gathering in my book :lol: I do need to get a silver dollar for great nephew's present - not sure if I want to give him a 2019 Eagle or a bright and shiny 1922 Peace dollar that I found the other day; one would have the right year, but the other one is pretty cool too. Maybe I'll save the Peace dollar for Christmas of 2022 instead though - that would be pretty nifty! (off note - does anyone know how to make old coins shiny again?)

If we spend tomorrow evening with daughter's crew, Hubby and I will supply pizza for supper; if Christmas morning, cinnamon rolls for breakfast. If we go tomorrow evening, then I will stay over a few hours at work Christmas morning to let my co-worker who has small children stay a bit longer at home with them before she has to come in. I still need to pick up one gift card - though it may end up being cash given in a card instead as I've gotten my days of the week mixed up again - oops! - and that shop is closed today. Amazon delivered the other presents to daughter's doorstep, bless their hearts! I may have to pick up a bicycle - older grandson's bike was stolen from their driveway on Friday; the kind part of me hopes that it's being used as a gift for a child (rather than sold for drug money - gotta admit the cranky part of me is simmering but trying to stay in the Christmas spirit :lol: )

As far as stocking up goes, I may pop in to Dollar General 12/26 as they have some post holiday clearance sales in their ad - the thing I am most interested in there is blankets/throws - I can't buy the same yardage of fleece as cheap as I can buy a 50"x60" throw ($5 regular price, on sale for buy one/get one 75% off after the holidays) which easily yields enough fabric to make my boys a pair of pajama pants or to line a pair of their jeans; and I can use the left over pieces from making those to make boot liners with a casing for elastic in the top .

I'm also going to try to stop by our local chain grocery store on my way home from work tomorrow morning to pick up a case each of Campbell's of mushroom and cream of chicken soup, on sale for 79 cents/can - that should easily get us through a year's worth of casseroles. They also have Folger's coffee for sale for $5.69/tub but I think I'm okay on ground coffee for now - although Hubby has started drinking it again so I might pick up a tub of decaff for him; have 8 tubs of half-caff on the pantry shelves for daughter so will just have to hope for another sale once the shelf is down to a couple of tubs.

Well, better close this out and get to work cleaning up the kitchen; you folks all take care out there; have a Blessed Christmas!
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
I finally got one of those hose reels (50ft) for the house. It took a bit to hang, but they are nice. Now I just need to get my compressor in the right spot and all is right with the world.
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Spent yesterday in the big city. I just had an itchy feeling we wont' be able to go again for a while, so I stocked up (sorta). The discount grocery was a bust except for some bacon, chicory (they have bags of herbs from a national source every once in a while), and some soup mixes. I also hit quite a few thrift stores and got another pair of jeans, dress shirt, dress shoes, and a couple pairs of dress pants (that I need for a conference in February). Lots of books!! Enough to keep me reading for quite a while. I also found a Dash blender (like a vita-mix) for $69 that looks and works like brand new (usually they're around $250, $400+ for a vitamix). It will be used to grind up roots for herbal preparations.

DH and I have been working a lot on our guest house (that will be my practice building as well once it's done). I have a lot of painting left to do, and some (hopefully) wainscotting and tiling in the bathroom. This is my winter project, I guess. I'm working the day before and the day after Christmas, so it will be a quiet holiday at home. I am so good with that!! All the kids have in-laws or other family they will see.

DH and I ran by the other place to check things out and found that the guy renting the pasture was leaving the solar well running continuous - flooding the area south of the well and stressing the pump. The gate was also unlocked and slightly open (with cows in the pasture). DH is making some texts and calls as I type.

Gotta go - we need to load up the steers and take them to the locker this afternoon. they are due there in the AM, and I struggle with driving the truck and trailer.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
DH has completed the 10x12 walkin closet except for tiling the ceiling and he will do that later. I've been able to take all the laundry baskets that were overflowing to the closet. I've hung all the clothes in those baskets and folded the clean laundry that was hidden in them. Moving all this and the hanging clothes out of the bedroom has opened up the bedroom to make a much larger room. I'm getting all the extra things I'd stashed in the bedroom closet into the new closet.

I put a card table and chair in the new closet, a good place to sit down and fold clothes. He needs to get a couple more rods for hanging, the ones he has weren't quite long enough. he's also going to put some shelves on the far wall that has a small window and a a/c under it, so the shelves will be on each side.

He has forbidden me from putting food in there, LOL.

Judy
 

Digger

Veteran Member
We changed dr clinics last week. It had got to be a real hassle trying to get refills on prescriptions. After trying for over 2 weeks to get 3 of hubbys renewed, they called in 2. Then days later told our pharmacy he would need to make an appointment for them to fill the third. He had just seen them the day before we asked for the refill. Talk about incompetence! The new clinic is privately owned. We will see a P.A. most of the time, but I am ok with that. When we left heading home from hubbys first visit with the P.A., his prescription was waiting at the pharmacy. I will have to go after the first of the year to get my blood pressure medication refilled.

Our son and daughter in law got the bracing done in the barn. Hubby gave them some extra buildings supply's we had left. It will be enough to build the frame for an addition to their small house they are working on.
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
I learned something this week. I bought a pair of those nice can racks that used to be sold at Bed Bath and Beyond. They are nice as they hold 12 cans and rotate. They fit nicely on a small shelf and give the wife easy access.

Well apparently the new racks are not built for the older cans that hold 15-16 oz. They are now designed for the 13-14 oz cans. After a little bit of bending and some testing. I got it to work.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
And just think! In 10 years, you'll be able to fit twice as many of the "new, improved" cute little 6 1/2-7 oz cans!

There has to be a logical end to this madness!

Summerthyme
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
And just think! In 10 years, you'll be able to fit twice as many of the "new, improved" cute little 6 1/2-7 oz cans!

There has to be a logical end to this madness!

Summerthyme

maybe its someones idea of portion control, of course it will be at twice the price.

Judy
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
The only somewhat prep-related activity (besides as much house cleaning and organizing as we can handle...having 2 toddlers for 3 days means a lot of normal homestead life equipment needs to be put away, or higher!) is planning for leftovers, which I will then can or freeze.

The major project is the batch of barbeque baked beans... it's a bit of an involved recipe, with having to fry a bunch of bacon, soak the beans, etc. The original recipe called for canned beans, but they're a buck a can now, and I have a large stash of assorted dry beans for which I paid 20 cents a pound... they work fine, cut the cost of the recipe by about 90%, and just take an extra day to soak and cook.

So, I wanted to have them with Christmas dinner. I'm down to just 2 jars in the basement, so instead of making enough for dinner plus a reheat or two, I'm making enough to can a bunch the day after Christmas.

Our Christmas plans got tweaked when our son's excavator told him the only day he can do his excavation for the heat pump for thrir new house is the day after Christmas. He was planning on being here with his two toddlers through the 27th, as were our other kids and grandkids. DS put out a "help! I need all hands on deck!" text, and both brothers immediately changed their plans and said they'd be at his house bright and early the 26th. Fortunately, I found that my childcare and cooking services aren't required this time... a neighbor girl is on Christmas break and will keep the tiny ones out from under foot. I'll send the leftovers back with them, so meals are set.

So... They're coming TODAY!! Oh, boy! Thankfully, hubby has been an immense help with the cleaning and decorating. I've been struggling with severe back issues... yesterday, after standing for several hours in a marathon baking session, my legs gave out and I had nerve pain so severe if I hadn't had my Ouch liniment and didn't know what was causing it, I'd have probably gone to the ER (and probably would have had emergency neurosurgery this morning... I know that's where I'm headed, but I'm trying to get through the holidays, at least.) Plus, the insurance refused to let them do an MRI last week, so we're still fighting that.

Hubby put the tree up and we put the lights on, but we decided tree trimming was a perfect job for the 18 month and 30 month old girls.

I got most of my sewing done (four fleece sleepers for the girls and a heavy duty wood carrier for DS... I collaborated with an Amish neighbor on that, using his heavy sewing mach8nes and scraps of leather and heavy strapping... it turned out really well, and cost me nothing out of pocket, because I had the aporopriate fabrics in my stash.) I still want to make some leggings for the girls from some bright colored "long john" type waffle weave fabric, but that's going to have to wait until after the holidays. I know I'm going to have to go to DS's to babysit while he works on the house, so hopefully I'll get them done by then.

Well... gotta get busy! I won't be online much for a few days, so I'll wish everyone a blessed and peaceful Christmas now.

Summerthyme
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I'm going to be cleaning and doing laundry today. My Christmas tablecloth needed washing and pressed. Once I get those chores out of the way, I can relax a bit. I also like to stay organized to keep down on stress. So, I've already gone into my pantry and got out everything I need for our Christmas dinner. It's all now on my kitchen counter. While doing that, I found a qt. jar of my home canned green beans that I canned back in 2008! Still sealed, and look as fresh as the newer jars I canned year before last. I'll be using them for our dinner. I think I've already mentioned that all my baking has been done and in the freezer. I'll just take the rolls out, and pop them in the oven at the last minute. I'll take all the pies out tomorrow to let them thaw.

I need a few prayers from you guys and gals, please, if you would care to. All the stress I've been under, lately, has caught up with me, and I'm not feeling well at all, plus my brain fog has been terrible, lately. I've tried so hard to keep my stress/anxiety level down, but things have a way of slipping in anyway. At this point, today, I can't tell if I'm coming down with a cold/flu, or if it's just the beginning of a Lupus flare up.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! :hugs:
 

ivantherussian03

Veteran Member
I have been getting out on ice. I pulled out my map to where I might look for moose sheds. For years I have marked on gps where and when I have found antlers in the past.i have taken long rides looking for sheds on way out to camp. I found some. Camp is set up and functioning. Ready to start after Christmas.
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
As this is an item I consider part of my preps, I have my year end garden results are now ready.

Fruit Trees Lemons 3 milk crates in 2019, 2 milk crates in 2018
Kumquat 10 pieces of fruit, but this is a 2nd year tree

Vegetable Garden Peppers overall 7,512 pieces.

Breakdown 1st garden planter (40 ft sq)
Havasu (2 plants) 161 pieces 80.5 per plant
Spicy Bell (3 plants) 240 pieces 80.0 per plant
Bertha Bell 65 pieces 65.0 per plant
Purple Bell 141 pieces 141.0 per plant
Lunchbox 135 pieces 135.0 per plant
Cajun Spicy Bell 4 pieces 4.0 per plant 1st year plant
Total 746 pieces total

2nd garden planter (40 ft sq)
Anaheim 8 pieces 8.0 per plant 1st year plant
Tabasco 5,509 pieces 5509.0 per plant (4th year plant)
Chili Red (2 plants) 40 pieces 20.0 per plant
Jalapeno 217 pieces 217.0 per plant (4th year plant)
Giant Marconi 2 pieces 2.0 per plant (1st year plant)
Cayenne Pepper 951 pieces 951.0 per plant (4th year plant)
Fresno Chili (2 plants) 29 pieces 14.5 per plant (1st year plant)
Garden Salsa 10 pieces 10.0 per plant (pulled)
Total 6,766 pieces total

As you can see the Tabasco pulled 73.3% of all peppers harvested. We had expected between 75-80% so we did a bit better on the multi-year plants than expected. What you see listed gives us about 2003 peppers (non-tabasco) on a total of 80 ft sq of above ground garden or about 25 peppers per ft sq. Overall we are looking at 93.9 per ft sq.

Next year's plan is already in progress as we have planter #3 in process and the first plants are beginning to fruit. As we are attempting to layer our plants, we will have a Tabasco planted that we will from into a small tree much like the first one. We have planted 2 others in the same planter as a back up. Other smaller pepper plants will grow under the Tabasco plant in order to attempt to improve our yields further.

A fourth pepper planter is in progress and I am now down to adding drainage, soil and a frame work (50% complete now). I will have this done in time for spring.

Goal for next year:

We will continue to purge any plant that does not produce between 50-70 peppers per plant after the 2nd year. As this allows us to eliminate the variances in the plants we get. ( we target heirloom plants only). Also we have bought seeds in an attempt to get some odd balls that look fun.

The 3rd planter is designed to be a Tabasco primary with others as support and as such we do expect between 3k-5k peppers next year from it.

The 4th planter is going to be for Jalapeno with a few others as support. We expect to get between 2500-3500 peppers next year from it.

So this gives us a total of about 13,000 peppers with a range of Tabasco of 70%-80% of total yields.

I have included a picture of the last harvest of the year....

Thanks!
 

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WanderLore

Veteran Member
working twice a month at voly job having a blast.
issues at doc getting meds but mean nurse is now gone. ortho refuses to surgery on shoulder. waiting till first of year get new ortho.
took a decent amount of preps to daughters family along with gifts as they are having a bit of struggle right now.
we had our neighborhood watch meet. Must have been 12-15 Amish families there.
Also big family party and dinner. right after that an elderly loved family member went to be with the Lord so lots of driving to be with family. But she was ready to go.
just quiet Christmas at home. Weather very nice.
Hard to type with hurt shoulder and arm. Doc says Gabapentin is now classed as a narcotic because opiate users are using it to up effect of opiates. Well. I dont know if I want to do surgery if I have no pain relief except Tylenol. We will see.
I will start re stocking pantry after the new year. Was so happy I had put up so much that I had plenty to share, Praise The Lord.
Everyone have a blessed Christmas! I did get to stay overnight with 2 of the grandsons and took them to church and other fun stuff. Nothing would please me more than for them to move closer.
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
Doing some research found that I can be buried on my land, in homemade casket, no embalming. Want my heirs to inherit farm and life insurance, not a nursing home. That is what happened to the elderly family member. Beautiful home sold, all money went to account for nursing home. She lasted less than 6 months there. Hospice came in and started upping drugs and adding some. She was gone in 24 hours.
I want to be laid to rest in a natural state on my own land, in a small designated family plot. Thats what my grandparents did and all their family.
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
ps: i got some of the fleece throws at dollar general too. half off so 2.50 each. More than big enough to use for curtains. I put them on the rods with clothespins to see how they would look. Everyone really liked that look, said it was most like country look, so I left them.
 

Digger

Veteran Member
We are having weather in the 60*s for Christmas. So I took the opportunity to look into my bee hives. One hive was still doing good and had a lot of bees. I had lost the bees in the other two hives. The one hive was very iffy at best. I had made it from a split in late summer. They were doing good, then the bear hit them. This hive just did not recover enough before our really cold spell hit, despite me babying it along. The other hive I really thought was ok. The bear hit them also, but I thought they still had plenty of bees and I saw the queen the last time I looked. The hive that the bear didn't get is good. Hopefully it will keep through winter.

Now I guess we will have a little honey to spin out of the dead hive. The split hive I am freezing the frames for spring. Theirs is honey where I fed them, not a lot of gathered food.

Merry Christmas!
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Another forum I'm on suggested making a goal list for next year. I have started mine and have listed out steps to accomplish them (although I'm sure it will change along the way).

Spent today working on my practice space - still so much to do! I also hit Dollar General (picked up some blankets, OTC meds, strings of lights, and kitchen towels that were all marked down. Paid $1.37 for the lights!) and the local grocery (sweet potatoes that are fabulous for 33c/lb - but I bought them to try to get some slips going). We are supposed to get a pretty heavy storm this weekend, so I need to be prepared to spend the night at work if needed.
 

Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior
Another forum I'm on suggested making a goal list for next year. I have started mine and have listed out steps to accomplish them (although I'm sure it will change along the way).

Spent today working on my practice space - still so much to do! I also hit Dollar General (picked up some blankets, OTC meds, strings of lights, and kitchen towels that were all marked down. Paid $1.37 for the lights!) and the local grocery (sweet potatoes that are fabulous for 33c/lb - but I bought them to try to get some slips going). We are supposed to get a pretty heavy storm this weekend, so I need to be prepared to spend the night at work if needed.

you let those sweet potatoes sprout by themselves or do you use the old potato in a water jar method?

those strings of xmas lites are good to have around for low level room lighting - just enough lite to move around the house - you can power them by 12V battery without any problems ...
 

moldy

Veteran Member
planning on the water jar method. Honestly, I"m not sure why. Our season is fairly short (compared to down south), but they are so dang good!!
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Depending on how much time/money you have, if you really love sweet potatoes, you'd be better off buying some starts/tubers of Centennial (or possibly there is an even better shirt season variety... we're not really sweet potato fans). But back around 1993, I planted a row of Centennial starts, putting them on IRT mulch film (now called Solar film, at Johnny's Seeds) and the crop was incredible. We're at 1700 feet with an average frost free season of around 110-120 days.

The solar film is really a must, and probably would let you get a crop from even longer season varieties.
But if you've got enough time and can afford to take a risk... go for it. And let us know how it goes!

Summerthyme
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I needed hangers for the new closet and walmart has the best prices. I got 6 packages of 18, that should hold me for a while, LOL. I also got a wire shelving unit for the room the pantry is in. I'm trying to get that room organized (good luck on that). So while I was in town I also went to the Dollar Tree, I've decided to limit myself to once a month at the Dollar Tree, I spend too much money in there (almost all on food). That stop was strictly on prep food. I needed to replace a few things I'd used in December. My theory is use 2 replace with 4-6. Builds up quickly, still working on 52 cans of several things, I've got a good start. And I am rotating.

Judy
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I'm pretty well satisfied with my pantry for the time being. I'm only replacing what I use over a two week period, since I only shop every two weeks. I'm doing like Judy. If I use one of something, I replace with two, etc. It still adds up, but not as fast as buying several cases of food every two weeks. Not as expensive, either! I'll still continue to buy items on sale, too, but not as much. I want to free up money for other things that I need other than food storage. Some things I have put off buying to the point that it has now become a necessity. Not really prep items, but things for the house that just wear out.
 

Dinghy

Veteran Member
I went to an area Walmart to check out the after Christmas sales. They have Shady Brooks turkeys marked down to .50 a pound.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I went to an area Walmart to check out the after Christmas sales. They have Shady Brooks turkeys marked down to .50 a pound.

I was really disappointed at Sam's this year for not having their deep fried turkey breasts available. I usually wait, until after Christmas, and buy a couple for my freezer. They always went on sale. I don't even remember seeing any of their smoked turkey breasts this year.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Wow - lots of good buys being found! Only thing I managed to find marked down that we could use were plain boy sized t-shirts for $2 each; I found 3 different colors; picked up 3 different sizes of each of the three colors. I will stop in WM again when I take the boys home on Monday, see if anything has changed by then. There are a LOT of marked down items in the girls section; but only one rack in the boys - figures :xpnd:

ETA: We do a goal list like Moldy's each year - more household maintenance type items on the list for the coming year than we usually have as Hubby is looking toward retiring in a couple of years, and maybe one larger project - an addition to the machine shed that will serve as a garage for the vehicles - all the current overhead doors other than the tractor section are a squeeze to get a vehicle inside - I won't even try it!
 
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urthmom

Contributing Member
Depending on how much time/money you have, if you really love sweet potatoes, you'd be better off buying some starts/tubers of Centennial (or possibly there is an even better shirt season variety... we're not really sweet potato fans). But back around 1993, I planted a row of Centennial starts, putting them on IRT mulch film (now called Solar film, at Johnny's Seeds) and the crop was incredible. We're at 1700 feet with an average frost free season of around 110-120 days.

The solar film is really a must, and probably would let you get a crop from even longer season varieties.
But if you've got enough time and can afford to take a risk... go for it. And let us know how it goes!

Summerthyme
"Centennial" is a better producer than "Beauregard " sweet potatoes ? I'll have to look for those. Grew a few Beauregard this year in a 3' x 4' raised bed - darn groundhog and got 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket off of a half dozen plants. Didn't use black plastic over a soaker hose. That solar film sounds useful for next year.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Dunno if it's better than Beauregard... never grew that one. But in our short season (and often cool) summers, it sure produced well.

Solar film is how I get 3-5 dozen ripe sweet peppers and 3/4 bushel of tomatoes per plant...without any season extending covers.

Summerthyme
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
I've been taking inventory and re-organizing the pantry. As soon as I got it all back together, I realized I should have done it another way. Oh well...
My WM hasn't had any powdered milk or unflavored gelatin for over a month. I finally went to the local grocery store today and got some.
Supposed to have bad weather coming in this weekend, got some kerosene this morning, and hope to get some firewood later this afternoon.
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
I've been taking inventory and re-organizing the pantry. As soon as I got it all back together, I realized I should have done it another way. Oh well...
My WM hasn't had any powdered milk or unflavored gelatin for over a month. I finally went to the local grocery store today and got some.
Supposed to have bad weather coming in this weekend, got some kerosene this morning, and hope to get some firewood later this afternoon.

Our Sams ran out of cat food for 6 weeks. We then realized that we did not have 6 months of their food. Now working on that issue.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I've been taking inventory and re-organizing the pantry. As soon as I got it all back together, I realized I should have done it another way. Oh well...
My WM hasn't had any powdered milk or unflavored gelatin for over a month. I finally went to the local grocery store today and got some.
Supposed to have bad weather coming in this weekend, got some kerosene this morning, and hope to get some firewood later this afternoon.

I've been doing that, too, slowly. I've decided that I need to slow down a bit on buying for storage. Some things are approaching my "too old" date (like two or three years past expiration dates). I need to concentrate on using that up, before buying more. I'm just going to be buying items on sale for awhile, until I use some down my pantry. Tomorrow is my shopping day. I dread it. Being New Years, I can imagine how crowded it will be at WalMart! CaryC needs a hair cut, and the car needs to be put in for an oil change. I'm sure they will have lots on sale that I can pick through.

We have two pick up trucks coming later this afternoon, too, bringing us more firewood. We've only used one cord so far, and this will replace that cord, plus extra. We've had so many storms blow through, lately, there are plenty of trees down around the area. The property owners just want it cut up and moved out of their way. Free firewood! All oak. Sunday, we had 4 tornadoes reported in Mississippi. One of them was in our county, just north of us by several miles.

Happy New Year, Everyone!
 
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