Busy weekend. Saturday, I went and picked up my M1A. Damn paperwork took 90 minutes to get done, even with the nifty fingerprint reader they have at the store. That's right, here in the PRM you are fingerprinted to buy a firearm. All the stuff everyone is in a ruckus about with the federal gun laws is nothing compared to what I got to deal with already.
I swung by BJ's and bought $80 worth of preps. Well, $75 worth as I bought a big jug of cleaner, but that's kind of a prep anyway. I bought some pancake mix (tip of the hat to Michael for the idea) with some maple syrup. It's only good for a year, but it was only $3 for a big jug, so that's ok I guess.
I also bought 10# of sugar. I don't eat the stuff but it is a staple. I got two big packages of dried yeast. And I loaded up on more spices. I got black pepper, chili powder, and taco seasoning. Next time I'll get some bay leaves, cinnamon, and a bulk pack of something else. I also got two quarts of Frank's Red hot sauce.
I was very disappointed they didn't have any plain salt. Iodized by the ton, but no plain salt for pickling. I might have to get that online. I was also disapointed they had no plain brown rice. they had enriched rice, but that stuff is worse for you than sugar. All carbs and no fiber, and it doesn't store as long (I think).
I also bought 3 1# canned hams for $7. They haven't had them for a long time, so it's good to see them again. I'll buy more next trip.
I think I have my generator picked out. I cannot find it online, at the Lowes website, but here it is on the troy-built site. I need to do some arithmetic and make sure 3250 watts is enough to run my stuff. I don't want to get a 5kwatt because it burns a lot more fuel than the 3250 watt one. This one is nice because it has a 220V plug so I can run my tablesaw if I need to. The lower fuel usage means I can do more with the fuel I have stored. Reminds me it's time to add another 5 or 10 gallons of fuel to my preps.
Sunday, I shot the M1A and my buddies Sako .22 rifle. Damn, I am rusty. Been entirely too damn busy and cold to shoot. Was good to get out though. The M1A fired very nicely with some surplus ball ammo I managed to score for $13/20. The brass is reloadable or I wouldn't have bothered.
While at the range, I bumped into a guy who is a heavy shooter. In talking with him he suggested I started reloading and offered to sell me some brass. I said SURE! I'll take 1000. Taken aback he said well I don't want to sell that much, so we agreed on 500. not sure what he wants to charge me, but I trust him that the brass will be fine. It's all lake city.
So I went into the most useless gardening shop on the face of the earth. I wanted to buy the supplies I need for my garden, and they had nothing. no peat moss, no vermiculite, no compost. they did have a lovely section with tons of indoor plants and lots of landscaping and lawn care products. They even had a coffee shop inside with a 50" plasma TV with a news channel on. The employee I asked about the stuff I needed was clueless, just directed me to potting soil. Needless to say, I took my business elsewhere.
Finally on Sunday night I swung by Lowes and bought some garden supplies. I got 50' of weed matting for under the SFG. I got a few little greenhouse thingys to start some seeds. I got some peat transplant pots for $2 for 12. I got a couple trowels too a plastic one for a buck and a cheap metal one for $3. I forgot to grab a pitchfork for turning the compost pile when I start one.
All in all a busy, but productive weekend. Keep prepping!
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3 comments:
I think you'll like the square-foot gardening. It certainly cuts down on the day-to-day hassles, or at least that's what we found last year, our first year with it.
We made two frames and had greens, mint, cabbage and some peas and soybeans. The soybeans didn't do too well, and we fought cabbage worms all summer (until it got too cold for them; we harvested a few nice small cabbage heads.
We just took up the last frame to move it into a new spot. We're taking back the old section where the SFG was so we can try some commercial crops for a local restaurant.
Also, two new frames this winter: the garlic is up and looking good, and the first sprouts of the horseradish are poking up through the soil mix. Woohoo! The horseradish is in a double-depth box (2x12s) and we may put carrots or daikon (sp) radishes for kimchee in the other end of it.
Good luck and keep your readers posted on how it goes.
Phil
Good job. One note - although brown rice is much better for you, it only lasts ~18 months. White rice, because it is nothing but starch, will last more than 10 years. Sad, huh?
Vacuum packing should double the shelf life. I hope.
Or I just donate it to a food kitchen when it gets about 2 years old. I don't eat much rice at all.
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