What's your June prep goal?

[Noahs ARK]

My goal is water, water, water.

I'll continue to fill my bleach, laundry soap & all other empty containers with water, but I need to start some serious water storage.

I've been buying gallons of distilled water at the Dollar Store and will continue doing that.

Rain barrels!! That's my BIG prep goal for June. I want the barrels that link together and that gizmo that hooks into your downspout and diverts the water into the barrels.

[signseeker]

Finish planting everything.
Get my 3-month supply back to tip-top shape. (Laziness with the shopping planning, I suppose, has got me a bit lacking lately.)
Regular exercise to get ready for summer hiking. (After reading that thermo and his guy friends can fit through some 13" hole? Um... yeah. That's like squeezing through my computer screen. I don't think so.)

[KF7EEC]

work on paying off debt.

[Lucy]

To keep watering the garden. I have a bed of spinach that I need to free and take care of. Lots of baby tomatoes and baby carrots. I love the garden my husband is so dedicated in caring for.

[mirkwood]

To start teaching my class in the ward again.

Also to bucket the 450 lbs. of wheat I was given a couple months ago.

[sarge712]

Buy rain & water barrels, rotate out stored water cubes and build two compost bins.

[Noahs ARK]

I bought 6 bins at Home Depot today. They're only 4" tall and hold six 1-gallon jugs of distilled water.

So...now I need more gallon jugs of distilled water and I can start putting them in my crawlspace.

Once I get those filled, I'll buy more bins and then start getting those filled up.

Yay!

[signseeker]

This is a great thread! :thumbup:

[Noahs ARK]

(After reading that thermo and his guy friends can fit through some 13" hole? Um... yeah. That's like squeezing through my computer screen. I don't think so.)

We have one of those 13" attic holes that hubby used to go thru all the time. Uh huh...yeah.

Maybe our July project should be to enlarge those holes? :sosp:

Seriously, I bought a Sole Treadmill and had it set-up in my guest bedroom. I dragged a tv up there and need to start walking on that treadmill every day.

[ghostcat]

To survive till July!!!

[Noahs ARK]

To survive till July!!!

Amen! :rofl:

[4evermama]

Organize, organize, organize.
Working out the kinks of a new bread recipe...we'll see.
Making a Wonder Box and want to try that out when it's done.
And then organize some more.

[Julie]

Signseeker, this is a good thread.
I have planted a lot of tomatoes and squash. I plan on canning all kinds of different tomato stuff and dehydrate the squash to make flavored chips for snacks (to replace potato chips). Hopefully I will have lots of cucumbers to make pickles with.
At the ranch I plan on getting my yard done and fences in and planting fruit trees and maybe a little garden.
I also want to boost up my 3 month supply of ready to eat food that has been used a lot these last few months.

[Buffie]

Thanks for reminding me that it's a good idea to set a monthly goal. I just got my May goal in the mail about two weeks ago: a major order from Lehman's of oil lamps (on sale for $2.00), 120 oz. of odorless oil, and extra wicks. I'm now ready for the lights to go out. I think I'll make water my priority in June.

[mirkwood]

Thanks for reminding me that it's a good idea to set a monthly goal. I just got my May goal in the mail about two weeks ago: a major order from Lehman's of oil lamps (on sale for $2.00), 120 oz. of odorless oil, and extra wicks. I'm now ready for the lights to go out. I think I'll make water my priority in June.


Link?

[mirkwood]

I think this is what you were talking about:



http://www.lehmans.com/store/Lamps_Lights___Oil_Lamps___Table_Lamps?Args=&view_all=&sort_by=

[KF7EEC]

don't think it will happen in June, but I want to setup a GMRS repeater in St George.

[Buffie]

If you don't know Lehman's, I highly recommend them. Just type in "Lehmans". The store is for Amish and others who want info/items of a simpler, nonelectric time. You can order over the phone, and they ship an hour later (that's only a slight exaggeration). They also tell the real facts about products: which ones are good, best, and made in China. They wrap shipments in tons of bubblewrap so it's safe. If you order, ask for their latest catalog. It's great reading.

[Noahs ARK]

Thanks for reminding me that it's a good idea to set a monthly goal. I just got my May goal in the mail about two weeks ago: a major order from Lehman's of oil lamps (on sale for $2.00), 120 oz. of odorless oil, and extra wicks. I'm now ready for the lights to go out. I think I'll make water my priority in June.

I'll do a monthly thread - it'll help keep me on track with my goal.

I don't have any oil lamps or oil in the house right now...I have 1 case of those odorless candles from Emergency Essentials, but need to add oil lamps and oil to my list. Thanks for reminding me.

I suspect June & July will be water for me. I'm feeling less than confident about the amount we have stored.

Ooooh - I'm so excited. FedEx just delivered my May order from Shelf-Reliance. Two cases of potato pearls in #10 cans and one case of sweet potatoes in #10 cans. Gotta put it on my Master List!!:l0 (58):

[Buffie]

Just think, Noahs ARK, there are other poor women in the world getting excited over diamonds, rolex watches, thousand dollar purses. . . and we're jumping up and down over oil lamps and potato pearls.

[Noahs ARK]

Just think, Noahs ARK, there are other poor women in the world getting excited over diamonds, rolex watches, thousand dollar purses. . . and we're jumping up and down over oil lamps and potato pearls.

It's a hoot, isn't it? I just got another catalog today - it's from Honeyville. All sorts of honey, whipped honey, honeycomb, syrups, etc.

I'm excited cuz it's impossible for me to find honeycomb at the Farmer's Markets these days. Nobody sells it. Gonna order me some honeycomb!!

Ahhhhhhhh - life is good! :l0 (29):

[4evermama]

Mmmmm.....honeycomb.
We love it spread over warm toast.
Have a friend that has a Bee company.
She has so many different types of honey. Echinacea and Blackberry are our favorites.
I never thought about stocking up on honeycomb though.

I guess that I have a new "June prep" item.

[Noahs ARK]

Mmmmm.....honeycomb.
We love it spread over warm toast.
Have a friend that has a Bee company.
She has so many different types of honey. Echinacea and Blackberry are our favorites.
I never thought about stocking up on honeycomb though.

I guess that I have a new "June prep" item.

Do you get your honeycomb from your friend?

When I'd buy honeycomb at the Farmer's Market, they had it in a quart jar and it was covered with honey to keep it moist.

So if I buy honeycomb, I wonder if I should do the same thing, especially if I'm not going to use it soon. :blink:

[4evermama]

She packages the comb in sections about 4"x4". It stays moist all by itself.
If I were going to keep it for a long period of time, I'd probably jar it with extra honey.

What about vaccum sealing? The honey would be fairly contained in the comb and that would keep it fresh for sure.
I'll have to give that a try to see if I can get a good seal.

What ever the method, you can NEVER store too much honey.
YUM!

[Noahs ARK]

I think putting it in a jar with extra honey would be good, BUT I love the taste of the honeycomb w/o all the extra honey on it. Honeycomb on toast, especially rye toast!!

Sooooo I'm thinking I'll vacuum seal it. They have those hand-held ones at Food Lion that I've been thinking about buying. I also still have some small Space Bags that would work. I could put each honeycomb into a freezer bag and then Space Bag it all into a nice little package.

I agree - I have so much honey that I wonder why I keep buying more. I have some upstairs that is totally crystalized and I'm leaving it that way until I need to use it.

I store lots of jams, jellies & honey. I love storing the "fun" stuff!! :wink5:

[4evermama]

Homemade jams and honey have a way of making people smile.
I figure that if it works when times are good, we'll be needing it BIG TIME if things get particularly rough.

Nothing like a bisquit with jam or warm wheat bread with honey.
Simple ingredients...consistant response.

Make sure to post how the vacuum sealing works out. If I beat you to it, I'll let you know.

I keep my crystalized honey as well.

[Noahs ARK]

That's what I figure, too. No matter how much bread or flatbread we end up eating, I'll always have something to spread on it.

I've stored a lot of olive spreads (black & green), pepper & corn relish. I even have a case of lemon curd - my favorite!!

Sweet or savory - we're covered.

Yes - if you get the vacuum sealer, please let me know how you like it. I won't shop until Wednesday. I have to get at 3 cases of water cuz I found an empty spot in one of my closets! :l0 (6):

[Mother55]

Make all my married kids come and get "their STUFF" out of my basement so I have more room for my storage.

Of course, now at family gatherings, the kids groan, "which one of us is going to have to deal with all the preps and storage after you're gone, mom?"

It's all in the WILL, kids, so better behave so I don't cut your end of the table off! :)

"The 4 tons of wheat goes to.....

I bequeath my Sun oven to.....

I saved all that Mountain House for....

:)

[phylm]

LOL!!!!! Mother55

[Noahs ARK]

Figured I'd better get moving on my June goal, so today I went shopping for water, Gatorade/Juice & bleach.

-3 cases of water for that spot I found in one of my closets.

-8 cases of Gatorade - 2 cases in each flavor. There's fifteen 20oz bottles per case. That goes in our master closet. I always keep at least 1 case of each flavor cuz hubby drinks it. Now I have 3 cases of each flavor. Yay!

-4 1-gallon jugs of Hawaiian Punch that was on sale at the Dollar Store.

-4 big jugs of bleach (for the water I store in containers)

Cleaned out & filled 2 empty plastic containers (3 gallons each) with water & some bleach. Put in crawlspace.

Tomorrow I need to sit down and decide what kind of water barrels I'm getting and get those ordered.

Friday I need to buy 2 more gas cans and get those filled & put in the shed.

BTW - it may be just a coincidence with the oil spill, but I noticed today that water just went up $1 per case.

[Noahs ARK]

It's a hoot, isn't it? I just got another catalog today - it's from Honeyville. All sorts of honey, whipped honey, honeycomb, syrups, etc.

I'm excited cuz it's impossible for me to find honeycomb at the Farmer's Markets these days. Nobody sells it. Gonna order me some honeycomb!!

Ahhhhhhhh - life is good! :l0 (29):

Quoting myself cuz I'm so excited. I found honeycomb at the Farmer's Market today. They had it in pint jars with just a little bit of regular honey covering it.

I bought all 12 jars. Even asked for the box the jars originally came in cuz I wanted the cardboard dividers! Packed up my honey, paid for it & smiled all the way home. :l0 (50):

[4evermama]

Finished the Wonder Box.
Still organizing.

Noah, congrats on the honeycomb! Sounds like a treasure to me.
Also, thanks for the Honeyville heads up. I just got eggs from them but forgot to get celery.
Now I have yet another excuse to place another order. :)

[Noahs ARK]

Finished the Wonder Box.
Still organizing.

I'm still excited about the honeycomb! It's the little things that make me so happy.

I'm organizing, too. Got a bunch of stuff dropped off at Good Will Super Store today - that place is HUGE.

I think you posted the pattern for that Wonder Box - I need to look for it and see if I can make one. My sewing skills are pretty crummy, tho. Plus I don't have a sewing machine. :07:

[phylm]

I've been getting 32 oz. jars of good honey at Walgreen's every 2 or 3 weeks with coupons. $3.99 a jar, limit 3, which is half price of supermarket cost. I'm tickled to get it in the jars. Have larger containers in storage.

[Buffie]

Noah's ARK: here in Nashville, Metro Water Services sells water barrels for fifty dollars. I believe they're 50 or 55 gallon. Does your local service do anything like that? You might could get one from Metro; I don't know what their policy is about selling to people outside Nashville. Shipping charges for a barrel are probably high.

[Noahs ARK]

Noah's ARK: here in Nashville, Metro Water Services sells water barrels for fifty dollars. I believe they're 50 or 55 gallon. Does your local service do anything like that? You might could get one from Metro; I don't know what their policy is about selling to people outside Nashville. Shipping charges for a barrel are probably high.

No, our local service doesn't have anythng like that. I've checked everywhere and there are no barrels to be found.

If I bought the barrels from EE, the shipping would be free as long as I buy one of their 12-can Specials for the month. I'd call and ask them for sure first, tho. I don't really want EE barrels - I don't like the blue and hate that they have EE stamped on the side. I'd like just regular brown rainbarrels - something that blends into the surrounds and not stick out like a sore thumb.

[4evermama]

We got our water barrels from 2 different sources.
We have a local food processing plant that "recycles" 55 gallon drums for $5 each. They are white (not the standard blue) and are identical in every other way.
Our particular barrels originally contained vinegar or soy sauce (they produce gourmet mustards). We rinsed them with a bleach solution and then filled them (with bleach added). After 3 months of sitting in the summer heat and sun, we drained and refilled the barrels. The smell was completely gone. We have had these for 6 years and rotate the water every summer. Even after a year of sitting, the water is palatable.
So for $55, I have 11 drums.

Our local farm supply store has brown 40 gallon drums. They have a black screw top lid with a rubber gasket and a spigot about 6 inches from the bottom.
We picked these up on sale for $12 each. We paid more for less capacity but use them for our rain catch. Six of them are scattered in the back and front yards and blend with the shrubs rather nicely.

So, maybe a few phone calls would be worth the time if something pans out. You'd be surprised how cooperative businesses can be when you explain what you are trying to accomplish. Just for taking the 55 gallon drums...they gave us a year supply of mustards and horseradish along with a tour of the facility. The kids were thrilled and I had a VERY happy hubby.

Pumps, hoses and cap covers are cheap enough, so we were able to put the savings toward other needs.

[Noahs ARK]

Our local farm supply store has brown 40 gallon drums. They have a black screw top lid with a rubber gasket and a spigot about 6 inches from the bottom.

We have a farm supply store that re-opened about 6 months ago. The new owner expanded - that's where I need to check!

Maybe I'll run by there tomorrow & check it out.

Thx!

[Noahs ARK]

I'm still excited about the honeycomb! It's the little things that make me so happy.

I received my 6 honeycomb from Honeyville today. Beautiful honeycomb! They fit perfectly in freezer bags, so I made sure the air was all out and then stored it away.

I've managed to buy 16 cases of water, 12 gallons of water, 12 gallons of Hawaiian Punch & 6 gallons of SunnyD.

Bought 2 more 5-gallon gas cans and got those filled up and stored in my shed away from the house.

Haven't ordered rain barrels or looked at the farm supply company yet, either. Will try to get that done next week. It may end up becoming my July goal.

How's your goal coming along?

[signseeker]

Let's see...
Finish planting everything... check. Haven't appreciated the weather lately, but we'll see how things go...
Get 3-month supply back in shape... about 70% there.
Regular exercise... check. Been swimming a mile in the mornings, about 5x a week.

[Noahs ARK]

Let's see...
Finish planting everything... check. Haven't appreciated the weather lately, but we'll see how things go...
Get 3-month supply back in shape... about 70% there.
Regular exercise... check. Been swimming a mile in the mornings, about 5x a week.

I'm so impressed with your exercise program. I need that kind of discipline.

My friend lives in West Valley and has replanted her garden twice cuz of the weather. She got very discouraged with the last cold snap, but today she said it's 81, so she's happily planting more.

[Earthling]

Went to the Honeyville store on Friday in Salt Lake. They had the large cans of mint cocoa mix on clearance for $2.50! sweet . . .

I am ordering with several other people the group specials from Emergency Essentials each month. It is working well. Plus there continues to be good deals on cases at the local grocery stores.

[Noahs ARK]

Went to the Honeyville store on Friday in Salt Lake. They had the large cans of mint cocoa mix on clearance for $2.50! sweet . . .

The Honeyville store I ordered my honeycomb from is in Durango, Colorado. They don't sell cocoa mix, so I think there must be another Honeyville store that I don't know about. I'd better research that!! :wink5:

[waif69]

Y'all impress me with you goals. I simply want to conduct an inventory of what we have and have it completed by the end of the year. I think that may be a bit aggressive given the rate that I am able to get other projects complete along with the number of projects that have to get completed prior to conducting an inventory.

[Noahs ARK]

Y'all impress me with you goals. I simply want to conduct an inventory of what we have and have it completed by the end of the year. I think that may be a bit aggressive given the rate that I am able to get other projects complete along with the number of projects that have to get completed prior to conducting an inventory.

I think that's a good goal! We did that a couple of years ago and it was a daunting task.

We have a Master List, BUT there were times we'd grab a #10 can of potato pearls, green beans, mushrooms, etc and NOT mark it off the list. So I found out my list wasn't very accurate.

Now I don't even both putting certain things on the list cuz we go thru them so fast.

[waif69]

Now I don't even both putting certain things on the list cuz we go thru them so fast.

That is what I think we will have to do too. Now we just need to get the garage cleaned up, so we can rip out part of the ceiling (and finish my reloading bench), so I can investigate a leak, then repair it, then patch up the ceiling... I'm sure I am missing something.