Episode 466: End of Summer Pantry Management

Aug 18, 2021

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Today, we talk about what to do with your pantry at the end of August, whether you are on a homestead or living in the city.

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You seem like a really cool lady with a good heart and I like your goals for independance and living free and wish you well on your quest. I do have a question regarding trading and bartering within a small neighborhood of "like-minded people". My father was born in 1937 and pines away at how everyone worked together for a common goal, say threshing wheat/oats and how people used to work together. I ask what happened? Because my point of view is I don't even know these people he would talk about so fondly from childhood memory. He retorts "We all became independent and stopped having to get along, so we don't". So, it seems these barter systems are transient and dependent on most within the group being of either similar socioeconomic status or as the time ethnic decent, and Dad always seems to talk about the riff that severed relationship X or Y . Just thoughts. Love your show.

Main topic of the Show: End of Summer Pantry Management

This morning, the weather had turned “morning cool” once again and you know what that means, right? Winter is coming and along with it the need to be fully stocked up, have firewood, and have the animals taken care of.

One of the reasons that store shortages are not very concerning to us here in the Holler is that we have been maintaining a good pantry for many years. But that doesnt mean we will not have to go without if things do not come back in stock.

This week, we have had a cool reprieve amid the hottest days of the year. We have stowed and stashed jars of winter storage. We have “used up” commercial products as part of a busy week of travel.

This month, we have dug a giant ditch behind the house, completely taken out everything in the prepper pantry to rerun gas, electrical, and water. Things are a bit stirred up and it is time to do the late summer pantry project.

If you are new to pantry management, or an old hand at it, this time of year tends to lead to the same place: it is time to audit, reorganize, and plan the next steps in advance of winter. If you are lucky enough to have AC, this is also an excuse to stay cool during the hottest part of the day while making forward progress.

Failure to take this time now leads to that one can of sauerkraut that stays in the back corner of your pantry, getting moved each time you do, until it is so old that you don’t even want to feed it to your pigs.

How do I know? I moved that can of sauerkraut 8 times before I realized I was never going to eat it. That can of sauerkraut was the first step toward proper pantry management - as in store what you actually eat -- and it started me on a very different path in food management long before I discovered my love of preserving and storing food in abundance.

So what does the Summer Project Look like?

Review long term and short term storage
Make 2 piles for each place: Use up, store it
Put everything away with the use up items in front on shelves and the store it items harder to get to (pull things from long term storage that really need to be worked into your meal plans)
Freezers if you have them
Make a list of what is missing for the winter: flour, sugar, hot coco, paper towels, fire starters, first aid and toiletries, meats, veggies, etc
Set a schedule to restock - there is still farm abundance to preserve and things often have early fall sales. Advanced: buying for next summer at the end of this one!
Do this same process for livestock and pets

The first time I did this: 2 weeks - now it is a 1 day thing. (explain why)

Next 2 weeks meal plan

Landing: High times and spare - you will be as supply secure as you can be without wasting time and money on things you will never use.

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