if we locked down.... what would we miss?

[rockriver]

with ebola and muslim/isis and ferguson and all the rest...

I asked the wife this morning... "if we locked the gate right now.. and agree not to leave our premises - what would we miss - why do we leave our premises now?-
what do we go obtain elsewhere? what would we desire that we couldn't find inside our borders?" we assumed the electric grid stayed up and working along with the city water.

she started naming off items that we routinely buy..
everything from screws to food items... we quickly commented on each item and how seriously we would need that item...
we were doing ok... until she said

bread.

I love a slice of bread. I need it!!

and we have the ingredients (small amount) but we don't know how to turn ingredients into a loaf of bread.
we've got a book, but no experience.

we've signed up for a bread making class, but that is 2 months away.

so... what would you need if you couldn't leave the driveway? you must stay home to quarantine your family from ebola?

[Coyote Cuffer]

I can help you with the bread making if we can communicate. Ha! Seriously, I decided to learn how to make bread from seed to loaf a few years ago. I am not a farmer and had never baked anything. I am a butcher by trade, (one of the trades). I cook meat not cookies. Anyway, with the help of you tube I planned and planted a wheat patch. I cultivated and harvested then processed and ground 11 pounds of flour. In the meantime it occurred to me that I did not know what to do with the flour. I bought a book and watched videos and made some bread. I now really enjoy making bread. I also have heirloom seed if I need to plant more. I raised wheat another year and will not do it again unless I need to produce food. Flour is cheap. Making flour takes a lot of tome. Making bread is a snap.

[justanothergunnut]

Lots of work taking that seed from ground to table isn't it coyote. I myself have never tried to grow wheat but I know it's a fairly land and labor intensive crop. We have discussed previously here the idea of "labor banking". Wheat now is cheap and stored properly lasts a very long time. Because you have done it you know how much work 200 pounds of wheat represents. In your experience isn't it much wiser to bank that labor now and just buy 200 pounds of wheat while it is cheap and plentiful??

[Coyote Cuffer]

You are correct.
If you want to learn the skill, do it now. I can buy ready to use flour for less than I can get wheat berries to mill. A minimum wage job would return more for the time spent than raising wheat and harvesting, processing and milling wheat. I am glad I did it but other than entertainment I see no reason to do it again until there is none to buy.CC

[protus]

Gardening woke me up fast to how bad its gonna suck for those "preppers "who have cans full of seeds but wont even plant a 4+4 bed to at least learn it just ain't dig a hole drop seed water and 30 days later whammo instant food.
When things are good I can eat fresh veggies once a day...have some extra to store but feed three stand alone...add in bad weather old seed...pest...learning experience for sure. Which is why in just the two years here we e gone for maybe 50 sg ft of beds to a few hundred sq ft..

Honestly what'd I would miss...is a big cold pint of stout...and fresh sea food......its all freshwater here ...LOL
of course medical care...hvac....hot water and TP when it runs out LOL

[Lowdown3]

The basic bread recipe in Back to Basics (Reader's Digest book) is a good easy one to start with.

Get some honey butter, use it when the bread is hot and fresh :)

Homemade bread, especially early on, is usually "heavy." Get used to it.

Most of us are used to store bought air entrained bread (hopefully not white bread).

[jimmycthemd]

I started making my own bread earlier this year. Bought a hand mill and off I went with wheat berries. Did it all by hand for awhile and have since bought an electric grinder and bread maker. I made enough by hand to know I can do it, but it's definitely labor intensive. Also learned to make tortillas and muffins by hand. I now make 100% of my own baked goods just because I've grown to love the taste.

Also make my own grits and homeny out of dent corn along with oat meal out of oat groats. It's all a LOT better than store bought but it is labor intensive and a little more costly.

[Coyote Cuffer]

I just robbed my second beehive. Looks like about 30-35 lbs of raw organic honey to add to the 72lbs that I just collected. I also just set up a wild hive I captured yesterday evening. I have a loaf of fresh bread waiting to be topped with "bee juice". Very satisfying!

[justanothergunnut]

Try baking without yeast. Tortillas. Fry bread, bannock. Non of them use yeast. I thoroughly enjoy wrapping dough around a stick and cooking it over the coals of a open fire. I'm a bread dipper, stews, soups, eggs whatever. You can pull the bread off the stick and fill the hole with jam or some of that wild honey... YUMM

[Coyote Cuffer]

That is a good thing to learn. I have made sourdough starter by culturing the active "local" airborne yeasts into water/flour mixture. All it takes is flour and water exposed to the natural yeasts in the air then given a little time to brew and a little stirring and feeding and you then have your own yeast factory. Amazing stuff for a simple mind like mine! Making breads with soda and or baking powders are so much quicker and easier though.

[Bearman202]

Back to the topic of the thread, the thing you're going to want the most will be that ONE thing that you forgot to stock up on. I think it might be a good idea to inventory the preps, then spend a little time getting your psych right, knowing that there is no possible way to foresee everything. Does that make sense?

[rockriver]

I've been thinking of doing a "don't buy week"
ok to go visit relatives.. ok to go to church... but don't buy the screws and glue I need to fix the table.
don't call the refrigerator repairman.
don't buy gasoline.
don't buy a loaf of "store bought" bread.

do a little test..

[sniper69]

For a good easy recipe for bread (that will remind someone of store bought), here is the recipe I make http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2009/...torage-recipes I use the EZ Wheat Bread recipe at the link.

As for what we would miss if locked down, fresh milk for my children (yes I have powdered milk stored, and they will drink it - but fresh, is well, fresh. :D ) Also there are many small things (and some major) that would be missed - especially if one couldn't go to the store if a repair item was needed. Let's be realistic in that we can't store everything we might need for doing repairs.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

Community....

As much as the majority of the gen.pop. bugs me... I would miss them. And as many suggested you can not store everything nor can you do everything.

You need a community, not only for all the items and skills a community brings but for the relationships and hope a community can bring.

[Mannlicher]

when a crisis happens, it does. We are prepared or we are not. Life goes on, or it does not. :o