# Making The Food Stored Last and A Lesson Learned From COVID-19



## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

By nature of the way we live I am always prepared for six months at a time. So every Oct and April I replenish foods and household things we need. That works fine in normal times . But these aren't normal times. April is upon us and so is the corona virus. This would be the time to replenish flour, oats and other food items as well as bleach, TP, soap , etc.. I did manage to get some honey and flour and olive oil before things started getting bad. But the normal stocking up won't be happening in April this year because we aren't going near a store until this nightmare virus is over. Had the virus come in May replenishing the pantry would have been done but it didn't and now I am taking inventory of what is left . I will also do things differently in the future. Probably I will check the pantry three times a year or four just in case something like this virus happens again. 

We have enough oats and flour left for a couple of months or maybe three; as long as we eat less bread and cookies and smaller breakfasts. So I save the bread and cookies which are more like a breakfast bar; for Bill. His metabolism is fast and he still works splitting wood and gardening so needs extra calories. I am the opposite. My body metabolism runs very slow and I am slow and don't need the calories Bill needs. By me not eating food made with flour and eating each day only a half cup of oatmeal with flax meal and chia seeds; the flour will stretch and so will the oats. Butter is in the freezer and that should last at least four months and again I won't eat any as I don't need the calories. Same goes for cheese and yogurt but there is only enough for two weeks. There is enough dark chocolate in the freezer to last six months if we both only eat one small piece each day. Skim milk powder will last two months with both of us having milk. The good news is we have plenty of potatoes; garlic, carrots, turnips stored and a whole lot of canned goods, soups I made and canned and it is almost gardening time. By the middle or end of May there should new fresh greens. 

There is enough food for our cat for three months as he is being cut back too. Slowly I am introducing him back to eggs and vegetables and less commercial food. 

We won't be going near any stores for the foreseeable future so more than ever I am looking for alternatives to the few things we have been buying at the store. Tapping our Sycamore trees for syrup was a good replacement for honey. That is a start.

What I have learned from this COVID -19 virus is it is hard to be completely prepared for the unknown especially when the enemy is invisible. Although stocking up for six months helped immensely it isn't sufficient when disaster strikes near the fifth or sixth month. Instead of relying on store bought items I lean toward finding alternatives to the few things we do buy. We are never too old to change the way we do things.

Does anyone else have any ideas how to substitute foods you use with others you don't need to buy?


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

lmrose said:


> By nature of the way we live I am always prepared for six months at a time. So every Oct and April I replenish foods and household things we need. That works fine in normal times . But these aren't normal times. April is upon us and so is the corona virus. This would be the time to replenish flour, oats and other food items as well as bleach, TP, soap , etc.. I did manage to get some honey and flour and olive oil before things started getting bad. But the normal stocking up won't be happening in April this year because we aren't going near a store until this nightmare virus is over. Had the virus come in May replenishing the pantry would have been done but it didn't and now I am taking inventory of what is left . I will also do things differently in the future. Probably I will check the pantry three times a year or four just in case something like this virus happens again.
> 
> We have enough oats and flour left for a couple of months or maybe three; as long as we eat less bread and cookies and smaller breakfasts. So I save the bread and cookies which are more like a breakfast bar; for Bill. His metabolism is fast and he still works splitting wood and gardening so needs extra calories. I am the opposite. My body metabolism runs very slow and I am slow and don't need the calories Bill needs. By me not eating food made with flour and eating each day only a half cup of oatmeal with flax meal and chia seeds; the flour will stretch and so will the oats. Butter is in the freezer and that should last at least four months and again I won't eat any as I don't need the calories. Same goes for cheese and yogurt but there is only enough for two weeks. There is enough dark chocolate in the freezer to last six months if we both only eat one small piece each day. Skim milk powder will last two months with both of us having milk. The good news is we have plenty of potatoes; garlic, carrots, turnips stored and a whole lot of canned goods, soups I made and canned and it is almost gardening time. By the middle or end of May there should new fresh greens.
> 
> ...


We were eating a lot of fresh salads but not now. I went thru seeds last night and pulled out different varieties of lettuce and mustard to plant. Already started pak choi and tomatoes. Hopefully within 2 months we'll have fresh salads again.

I will pick more currants and mulberries this year if they are available. 
I will purchase more clove oil to spray our pants with when we go outside.
I have the fels bar soap that I used to make laundry detergent several years ago. I believe the other ingredient was A & H soda or borax. It made an excellent detergent that was cheap and also dropped the need for a fabric softener. Got to look that recipe up...

Sprout food-safe seeds for fresh vegetables. Use more oats and ground flax in sweet and savory dishes. Make lacto fermented vegetables for vegetables that are reaching their expiration date.
Freeze really fipe fruit like cut up bananas for smoothies and oatmeal.

Totally agree that we are NEVER TOO OLD to change. There will be a louder degree of belly aching though...


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

light rain; Thanks for your very good suggestions! I intend to pick more wild berries and wild apples this year also.

Bill has our seeds saved from last year ready to plant the garden which for most things won't happen until May. Although the tomato seed he started has plants about 4 inches tall now. Last year we had our first salad greens by the end of April. So will have to see if the weather co-operates this year to do the same.

I took frozen cut up rhubarb and frozen cut up bananas out of the freezer today and cooked them together; added cinnamon and sap from the Sycamore tree. We had some for dessert and I canned the rest to use different times. I am trying to move away from freezing as much as possible so if we have to live off grid I won't need a freezer.

Sprouts is something I have never had to do but think it is time to experiment with them.
I don't have Fels soap but something similar called laundry soap which I use if I wash anything by hand. We have a small apt size washer in the trailer and I wash the clothes with Borax and white vinegar. Have a nice day.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

I slacked off on canning the last few years. I still do jam though. 
Going to go after the garden real serious this year. Prefer canning over freezing for taste. 
for a lot of things. I have lots of seed saved. It maybe older but has been kept dry and 
should still be good. Going to plant some things earlier and take my chances. Stagger the planting. 
Thinking square type beds. Will have to build a fence around the garden. My banty chickens have 
no respect for my big kennel yard for them. And being they lay nice eggs, I have to just outsmart them. 
Good thing we got 2 acres here and no real close neighbors. We don't have to stay in the house a 
lot due to this virus problem.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

ladytoysdream; That is good you can be outside more. Soon we will be back to our cabin away from people and I will be able to go outdoors. I'm looking forward to that. 
Well; I really made a judgement error in not stocking up on flour before April when I normally would at the six month interval. I looked in the freezer and only found a two pound bag of rye flour which I added to my flour pail. There is enough flour for two big batches of bread and a few dozen cookies for Bill. Luckily I baked enough bread last week and froze it so that will last six weeks or so. So the remaining flour can be stretched over the next few months. Good news is we have plenty of potatoes which I can make many things out of. We decided we won't be going into any stores in town for anything and can make do with what food we have on hand. By May we should have the first early carrots, card, lettuce and spinach up and big enough to eat. Then Bill only needs to go to the farm-co-op for a bag of hen feed and a gas station to fill up. Neither are in town.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

ladytoysdream; That is good you can be outside more. Soon we will be back to our cabin away from people and I will be able to go outdoors. I'm looking forward to that. 
Well; I really made a judgement error in not stocking up on flour before April when I normally would at the six month interval. I looked in the freezer and only found a two pound bag of rye flour which I added to my flour pail. There is enough flour for two big batches of bread and a few dozen cookies for Bill. Luckily I baked enough bread last week and froze it so that will last six weeks or so. So the remaining flour can be stretched over the next few months. Good news is we have plenty of potatoes which I can make many things out of. We decided we won't be going into any stores in town for anything and can make do with what food we have on hand. By May we should have the first early carrots, card, lettuce and spinach up and big enough to eat. Then Bill only needs to go to the farm-co-op for a bag of hen feed and a gas station to fill up. Neither are in town.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

ladytoysdream; That is good you can be outside more. Soon we will be back to our cabin away from people and I will be able to go outdoors. I'm looking forward to that. 
Well; I really made a judgement error in not stocking up on flour before April when I normally would at the six month interval. I looked in the freezer and only found a two pound bag of rye flour which I added to my flour pail. There is enough flour for two big batches of bread and a few dozen cookies for Bill. Luckily I baked enough bread last week and froze it so that will last six weeks or so. So the remaining flour can be stretched over the next few months. Good news is we have plenty of potatoes which I can make many things out of. We decided we won't be going into any stores in town for anything and can make do with what food we have on hand. By May we should have the first early carrots, card, lettuce and spinach up and big enough to eat. Then Bill only needs to go to the farm-co-op for a bag of hen feed and a gas station to fill up. Neither are in town.


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## stamphappy (Jul 29, 2010)

Is there anything you can get at the Co Op when Bill goes to town? Sometimes rolled oats are sold as animal feed. There may also be other items as well.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

stamphappy said:


> Is there anything you can get at the Co Op when Bill goes to town? Sometimes rolled oats are sold as animal feed. There may also be other items as well.


 Hi stamphappy. We don't have a co-op where we live is southern Nova Scotia. We have a Super Store Supermarket; a Walmart and a Soby's grocery store and two medium size grocery stores and one natural food store. These stores serve the town of 6,000 and county of 30,000. Like other places people are hoarding and my neighbor said she couldn't find any regular yeast. Another person said flour is all gone and of course toilet paper is in short supply. 

What is really upsetting is in the smaller stores people are not practicing safe distancing. The larger stores are limiting how much any one person can buy but smaller stores aren't therefore people are hoarding. While doing it is possible they are leaving their germs behind! I wouldn't feel comfortable bringing home anything from a store these days. Even cleaning items I wouldn't feel safe. Really flour is what I am lacking is all.

Bill won't be going to town for anything anymore. He is still having problems with the sciatic nerve and is in pain. He makes it to the farm and is preparing to plant and then comes back and lies down. He had this problem is the past and it eventually straightened out. 

Still we will be fine. We have vegetables left from last year's garden plus all I canned and froze. We have a lot of potatoes so am going to practice dehydrating some to make flour with. As everything I look at this virus as a challenge to over come. Thanks for your suggestion and have a nice day.


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## oceantoad (May 21, 2009)

Could you order flour off the net?


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Have you priced flour on the 'net lately? $15.00 for 5 pounds of King Arthur - PLUS $15.00 shipping....


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

And as I have mentioned before, a year or two down the road, a lot of that flour is going to be sitting in cupboards, rancid and waiting to be thrown out but non users who went back to microwaves and take out.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Oceantoad,Wolf Mom,GTX63, Thankyou for your comments. Over the last year I learned how to use internet and Amazon to buy a few things like DVD's, books and books for my little great-granddaughter. It was nice to have delivery to the door. Super Store Grocery is offering delivery here but they are short on whole wheat flour. The problem is with this current coronavirus I don't trust anything coming from the store for the present time. I would like to live some more years and knowing I am very susceptible to pneumonia I don't want to risk bringing any virus home. I realize most people have no choice but to go to the grocery store as they have to eat. But in our case we don't need to go there for food. Yes; the flour won't last but we will be fine. The little we did buy we can live without. Besides if we don't shop that will leave more for someone who has no choice. This is a challenge to deal with and overcome unlike others but still solvable. I have been indoors three weeks so far today and it looks like a long haul ahead. So I have plenty of time to experiment cooking a bit differently. Have a great day and remember this too will pass.


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

lmrose said:


> Oceantoad,Wolf Mom,GTX63, Thankyou for your comments. Over the last year I learned how to use internet and Amazon to buy a few things like DVD's, books and books for my little great-granddaughter. It was nice to have delivery to the door. Super Store Grocery is offering delivery here but they are short on whole wheat flour. The problem is with this current coronavirus I don't trust anything coming from the store for the present time. I would like to live some more years and knowing I am very susceptible to pneumonia I don't want to risk bringing any virus home. I realize most people have no choice but to go to the grocery store as they have to eat. But in our case we don't need to go there for food. Yes; the flour won't last but we will be fine. The little we did buy we can live without. Besides if we don't shop that will leave more for someone who has no choice. This is a challenge to deal with and overcome unlike others but still solvable. I have been indoors three weeks so far today and it looks like a long haul ahead. So I have plenty of time to experiment cooking a bit differently. Have a great day and remember this too will pass.


Imrose, this video may help you in cleaning what is brought into your house by delivery.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

susieneddy said:


> Imrose, this video may help you in cleaning what is brought into your house by delivery.


Thanks for the video susieneddy; That was very interesting.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

you may not need to go in to a store.

if you have a bulk food supplier you typically use you can probably call and get pricing and mail them a check then set up a time where you show up and they put it all in the back of the truck no contact necessary.

we found a friend of my wife's who her and her husband had started a produce farm they are selling storage rot crops right now soon to be selling seeds they are making deliveries in the county for 5 dollars extra , we got a box of different types of potatoes , sweet potatoes , a bag of lettuces and several onions they call as they are pulling up then drop it on the front step and leave.

there is a local winery free delivery in the county on 3 bottles or more they are just running around in their car 3 days a week dropping bottles on your step.

my friend's farm raised meat , beef , pork , chicken , turkey , lamb and sells at farmers market in ILL they set up a pickup order and a fed ex delivery. you order by Tuesday , pickup a the end of the drive Thursday they wait with a box truck and orders at the end of the drive way to the farm. you tell them your name they will either hand your order through the window or put it in your trunk.

lots of places doing pickup now where you never leave the car

if you have them place it in the trunk then you car quarantine the supplies for 3 days after 72 hours the virus should not be able to survive , if colder you would wait longer.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Imrose, you can store and preserve much of your dry goods for very long periods of time.
My comment about the amount of flour, etc getting thrown out in a year or so will be from those who bought up more than they knew how to use, tried a few of grandma's recipes during the quarantine and then said "Ok, enough of that" and never went back to it again.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

if you can find a way to restock at least some without risk I would while it is available.

when we started this 3/14 I had enough to last a while and I though maybe I should just stay in and wait it out. now nearly a month in 4/10. I am glad I didn't different things have been out and available each time I have gone to the store.

3/14 and 3/28

you sound like you have a very set diet that is good and it works for you.

they say an army runs on it's stomach , well my troop morale falls when they don't have some variety so some variety I try and keep.

morale is important.

Quarenteaster as my crew has taken to calling it this Sunday we are cooking a few things to celebrate. 

I expect we are in this till at least June and I think the numbers will still be getting worse till the 2nd week of May and that is being very hopeful.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Good news yesterday for us! I called the local natural food store where I buy flour, oats ect. I asked if I could order over the phone and gave them a list I usually buy every six months. We eat differently than most people here so almost everything I needed was still in the store. They were out of yeast but I already have enough at home. I even can have the 25 lb. bag of organic whole wheat flour. Other flour is sold out but what I use most other people don't. The bulk bag of organic whole oats is also available. The organic flour and oats is more expensive than non-organic which is why it was available still. The skim milk powder was also available for the same reason. Besides flour, oats and skim milk powder I ordered; 2 jars of honey; black strap molasses; Stieva ; nutmeg; cinnamon ; raisins; red wine vinegar; popcorn; dark chocolate covered raisins; raisins; sunflower oil; peanut butter . Everything is organic and I bought enough for six months but will keep a close eye and check amounts in two months.. Bill will go to pick it up Tuesday morning and someone will put everything in the car. He is barely walking but can drive. He won't have any contact with people except to hand them the payment and doesn't have to go inside the store. The bill was expensive at $ 388.00 ! But it was really free because the government just sent most of its citizens money of various amounts to help out during this corona virus crisis . The $788. they gave us is like what I spend in the whole year at a store. So we feel really blessed. Every other food we eat comes from the ground. Non-food items like Borax, shampoo; soap; dish liquid; TP; cat food and his pills for urinary tract infection I have enough for six months so we will be fine. We are very thankful today . I also will be looking for ways to do more towards self-reliance as the government will run out of money eventually at the rate they are spending. It is a stop gap measure on their part trying to keep the economy from collapsing.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

lmrose said:


> ladytoysdream; That is good you can be outside more. Soon we will be back to our cabin away from people and I will be able to go outdoors. I'm looking forward to that.
> Well; I really made a judgement error in not stocking up on flour before April when I normally would at the six month interval. I looked in the freezer and only found a two pound bag of rye flour which I added to my flour pail. There is enough flour for two big batches of bread and a few dozen cookies for Bill. Luckily I baked enough bread last week and froze it so that will last six weeks or so. So the remaining flour can be stretched over the next few months. Good news is we have plenty of potatoes which I can make many things out of. We decided we won't be going into any stores in town for anything and can make do with what food we have on hand. By May we should have the first early carrots, card, lettuce and spinach up and big enough to eat. Then Bill only needs to go to the farm-co-op for a bag of hen feed and a gas station to fill up. Neither are in town.


I plant a lot of Potato's each year. Store them in feed area in the Chicken house. Cover them with Hay. They last a long time. How do you store your Potato's for long time storage?


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

101pigs said:


> I plant a lot of Potato's each year. Store them in feed area in the Chicken house. Cover them with Hay. They last a long time. How do you store your Potato's for long time storage?


I can them. A quart is enough for each of us to have a good size serving with no leftovers. It's nice to pull out a jar and heat it up, the hard work already done.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

101pigs said:


> I plant a lot of Potato's each year. Store them in feed area in the Chicken house. Cover them with Hay. They last a long time. How do you store your Potato's for long time storage?


Hi; We eat potatoes almost every day in some form. Bill grows several varieties . When he digs them he does so with his hands so not to split them. Each row he puts in piles and sorts before storing them. He rubs the dirt off each one and examines them. Very small ones always went to the horse for feed. Bigger ones that weren't perfect went in a wooden box for me to use first to cook. The very best ones is what we store. They are separated by variety into wooden boxes and stored in the cellar where it is cool but not freezing.

When we had the farm house we had an old freezer in the cellar and took the lid off. We put cardboard boxes in the freezer and stored potatoes in them. Other times we used wooden barrels to store potatoes. We grow enough to last a year from one season to the next. They keep good and we have a thermometer set by the boxes . We keep an eye on it because we want it to stay about 40F. In our climate the potatoes keep best at that temperature. Definitely not below 35F.

The boxes are on shelves in one end of the cellar. If it gets too cold we have heavy curtains that can be dropped down from the ceiling in front of the shelves to keep colder air out. It works good and nothing has froze yet. We eat the potatoes that sprout the earliest first which are the blue and purple varieties . So those boxes are at the fore front and easy to access. Red Chiefans are the last to sprout in the Spring so their boxes are further back on the shelves. That is what we are eating now until there are new potatoes in July.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I store wheat and have an electric mill. Wheat berries store practically forever if stored properly i.e. cool and dry. I feel almost guilty hearing of others suffering from lack of needed supplies. I am not gloating, but I am definitely giving thanks for my preps. I keep a list of what I use and usually shop monthly, but what I use is never the "last" of that item but rather part of my rotation. I haven't shopped since the first week of March, but a friend brought me potatoes, onions and milk. I could have managed without them because I have instant potatoes, dehydrated potatoes, frozen potatoes and canned potatoes. I have dehydrated onions and onion powder. I have frozen milk, dried milk, evaporated milk and shelf stable milk. However, it was nice of her to pick up the fresh items for me. The only thing I rushed out to buy before the stay home orders was a bag of mini chocolate bars which I just opened on April 13.

I do the October/April shopping each year too. However, I do an inventory and that shopping trip is just to top off anything that has dropped below my preferred storage level. I often do not shop every month in the winter and during good weather I will sometimes go to every two weeks in order to take advantage of sales. I drive 25 miles to shop as our local grocery store closed. 

I use a lot of freeze dried fruits especially to add to oatmeal. I went online yesterday to order and every company I tried had "out of stock" on every single item I wanted. 

My garden this year is going to be bigger than I'd originally planned. My goal had been to reduce the size, but that seems to be a very bad idea now. I still have sweet potatoes and acorn squash from the garden stored in my basement. Also, have sweet potatoes in water rooting and putting out shoots which will be plants for the garden. Tomatoes were transplanted into larger pots today and peppers will be tomorrow. I have two pots planted with lettuce seed -- the first planting did not germinate so I replanted seeds a couple days ago. My last frost date is 5/15 to 6/1 so I might still have lettuce before the garden can produce.

For those of you planning on canning, you need to check your supplies and start purchasing what you will need. I understand that is another area where people have been panic buying. I have plenty of supplies for canning, but find I need to do a serious restock of garden seeds. Too many of mine are old which is likely why the lettuce didn't germinate.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Hi Ann; I really enjoyed reading about how you prep. You have many good suggestions I can adopt. Especially topping up between six month shopping trips and I need to be more diligent keeping inventory. Potatoes is one thing I never have canned except for making mashed potatoes. I made mashed potatoes and added parsley, basil , chopped onions and eggs and canned the mixture. It was different but turned out good. My storage space for canned goods is limited. I am leaning more towards dehydrated foods as they use less storage space. We too had to restart onion seed as the first didn't germinate.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Hi Ann; I really enjoyed reading about how you prep. You have many good suggestions I can adopt. Especially topping up between six month shopping trips and I need to be more diligent keeping inventory. Potatoes is one thing I never have canned except for making mashed potatoes. I made mashed potatoes and added parsley, basil , chopped onions and eggs and canned the mixture. It was different but turned out good. My storage space for canned goods is limited. I am leaning more towards dehydrated foods as they use less storage space. We too had to restart onion seed as the first didn't germinate.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

now that the governor has again extended "safer at home" quarantine now till May 26 I am glad I didn't try and make it all work. 

one month could have worked but 2 would be pushing it the 26th is more than 2 months from the start.

we are starting to see some items not returning to shelves or in limited amounts.

I went out for milk today and was planning to pick up 6 gallons of milk there were 4 gallons of whole left in the cooler I picked up 3 not wanting to be greedy.I will have to try back in a few days.

the small grocery had been doing a very good job of keeping shelves stocked , but more and more empty in the store.

the bulk foods place I go too , started breaking down flour to 5 pound bags with a 10 pound per family limit.
it was not at all off to get a 25 or 50 before.

I feel like the lesson is replace stores any time you can at a reasonable price. because you never know what is going to be on the shelf next week or month. if you have it and it is an item you like ans use then you are prepared better for later.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> I feel like the lesson is replace stores any time you can at a reasonable price. because you never know what is going to be on the shelf next week or month. if you have it and it is an item you like ans use then you are prepared better for later.


The best advice about preps I have heard. Replenish as you use it. If I had done that with the toilet paper before the lock down, I would have been oblivious to the intense hoarding. Same with a few other items. Often I would think, "no big deal, I'll be going to the store again in a few days so there is no rush." Then this hit and I was low on several items.


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

We learned a lesson we never even considered. Our son & his ex asked if we would take in our 6 yo DGD during the early stage of the panic. One lives in a condo dev and the other in an apt complex, while we live on 5+ acres. Neither felt they could both WFH and keep their daughter safe - plus ,being cooped up inside for a month+ would be torture for our favorite little human being. We were prepped - for 2 mature adults based on our eating preferences. We were not prepped for a 6yo with food restrictions. She lived with us for 4 1/2 weeks full time - we needed to quickly get a stock of her specialty foods, pediatric meds, toothpaste, etc. She did fine but we had a bit of a panic-buying session loading up on kid specific items.

The learning -- leave some budget for the unexpected; consider who might end up with you and if they have special needs, keep a shopping list of what you would need to get, in a hurry so you can grab the list, grab the stuff and go home.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

A lesson that keeps coming back to me for current shopping is ....
if you are in a store, see something you need, get what you need then.
It may not be there the next time you shop. Or if it is, you maybe limited.
So keep a list, check it often, and keep stocked up.

Keep your options open, and think outside the box. A product my husband uses,
I normally buy in Walmart. I just don't want to go into that store now if I don't have to.
So I checked it out on Ebay and it was more money than local price. I put a watch on the
auction, and in today's email, came a notice, that the product was reduced in price. Only 3 left
in that listing. So I did the math and it was cheaper to do a Buy It Now on the auction, and 
the price included free delivery. So I got all 3 boxes for him, and can stay out of Walmart for
awhile. And the box will show up in our mailbox at end of driveway


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## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

The biggest lesson I've learned is that we need a lot more oil, butter, and cheese than I anticipated. It's not hard to get veggies but it's hard to eat them without fat! We're going to fill a chest freezer with those items when this whole thing is over.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

fffarmergirl said:


> The biggest lesson I've learned is that we need a lot more oil, butter, and cheese than I anticipated. It's not hard to get veggies but it's hard to eat them without fat! We're going to fill a chest freezer with those items when this whole thing is over.


learned about oil on a previous live on preps for a while run several years ago.
gallons of peanut oil (no allergy issues here)and quarts of olive oil 

cheese really hasn't been an issue for us since we live in cheese land and the local dairy 3 miles away knows us when we walk in. no more walking in but we called in our order for just outside the door pickup on Tuesday. roll up calling the cheese store tell them you are there for your order and they come out with your cheese. and I of course got some icecream also. 
Badger blast ice cream.

but yes we go through several pounds of cheese a week.


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

fffarmergirl said:


> The biggest lesson I've learned is that we need a lot more oil, butter, and cheese than I anticipated. It's not hard to get veggies but it's hard to eat them without fat! We're going to fill a chest freezer with those items when this whole thing is over.


We freeze cheese and butter all the time.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

susieneddy said:


> We freeze cheese and butter all the time.


I freeze cheese and butter too when I have it. The butter is in lb blocks so I cut in two pieces and freeze in freezer bags. Cheese that comes in long blocks I cut into 4 pieces and freeze also. However this time I had several lbs of unsalted butter frozen before covid-19 but only a little cheese left. I don't want anything from a grocery store and the Natural Food store didn't have any cheese left. Because of the virus they haven't been getting normal shipments of many things. We can live without cheese if we have too and butter too if it runs out. I really miss yogurt. Most of all miss having goats because they supplied us with milk; yogurt and cheese . All I had to doe was make it.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Yesterday, I donned my mask, put hand sanitizer and wipes in the car and went to shop for the first time since March 2. I had a very long list of items I'd used during the time since shopping and found most everything on my list. However, number of items was limited so I wasn't able to buy the total amount I wanted. I had a very long list for Walmart (non food items) and again was able to find most. There were none of the items I wanted for transplanting my tomato and pepper starts and several of the OTC meds had to be purchased in several small bottles rather than the large sizes I prefer. Walmart had a small supply of tp so I bought a package of a brand I'm unfamiliar with so time will tell if that was a good choice or not. Aldi had no tp, limit of one box on tissue (Kleenex), 2 can limits on almost all canned goods, 1 dozen eggs, but mostly did have everything available. At Fareway everything seems pretty much as normal, however, I went in there for a very short list of items and didn't look at anything else.

My take on my shopping trip is that I need to go to town more often if I want to stock up because of limits and empty shelves. I started shopping at 7:30 a.m. and was finished by 10:15 so the stores were not terribly busy. Walmart was first stop and not busy at all, Aldi next and they were busier and by the time I got to Fareway it was normally busy. When I got back to the small town where I live I was able to get what I needed for my transplanting plus found onion sets at the local hardware store. They were out of seed potatoes. I already have 5# that I'd purchased with an order of numerous items from them a couple weeks ago which they'd delivered. I didn't think to ask if they'd have more seed potatoes in later.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

unfortunately those of us that could shop and go out once a month , are forced to about every 2 weeks and a small trip to a different store on the off week to keep up on items that have limits.

we are wiping with gas station TP the big commercial rolls like my wife orders for the gas station her co-op owns. the first trip to the store with no TP and she ordered a case of the commercial roll of tp. different supply chain with no restaurants or businesses using them it was still available at that time.

it has been 2 weeks again and I will be headed out Saturday , I am essential infrastructure so work all week I must.

canned fruit 2 cans per family per visit 

luckily there seems to be a good amount of fresh fruit 

seed potatoes my wife said hey you going to get those I hear there is a run on them , I called the farm store I normally get them from, they said yes we have them. I ran over there on my lunch and they didn't have many left , I got enough but then they had no red or yukons left when I was done got the last few pounds of each and some onions.
normally I would get Norland Red and Kenebeck I got Pontiac red and Yukon gold and called it good enough.



in the past peppers were typically the only ones buying in bulk and now we have competition at the stores


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## Mrs.Swirtz (Jan 13, 2009)

It's been a couple months since everyone checked in. How are y'all doing? I managed to stay out of a major town from March to Mid-May but then had to go stock up. Very little meat to be had in the grocery stores. We have moose, salmon, black bear and a bit of poultry canned and in the freezer. Ordered a whole hog from a farmer that I picked up in early June and a variety pack from another farmer for October pickup. Ended up being WAY cheaper than what Alaska grocery stores are gouging. Garden is in but so far it has been very wet and chilly. Greens are just starting to come in. Had 2 inches of good sized hail a few weeks ago that tore everything up and set things back. Starting to look good now. Just harvested our first zucchini and batch of beans from the greenhouse. Spaghetti squash are wanting to go crazy. Have several blossoms to pollinate every day.


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## stamphappy (Jul 29, 2010)

We went larger on the garden this year but we have had so little sun or warmth in our area, the veggies are not looking great (beans, squash, cucs, tomatoes, peppers, peas). I joined a co-op for vegetables/fruits that can be found on the east side of the state and shipped to my side; I joined after they did asparagus and cherries but should be fine for everything else. Gooseberries, kale, spinach have been picked and processed. We have been purchasing cheese in bulk when we can find it, vacuum sealing and freezing it. Ordered online canning lids and had them shipped to the house. This was the year we were going to stop doing baby chicks but changed our minds so we have 12 pullets to add to the flock soon. I want to research dehydrating and see if that is a more viable solution than freezing for some of our foodstuffs. I've been experimenting with cloth tissues as a t.p. replacement for #1 and I'm quite pleased with the outcome. Sorry if that's too much info.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Most groceries are plentiful again. Unlike the early stages foods are seriously limited. Canned and most frozen foods have limits but fresh produce is unlimited. 

The local farmers market has gone to no contact. You get online, order and pay with a credit card. Your order is boxed and set for pick-up on market day.

The markets where Mom sells have enforced distancing which is no big deal since there are fewer sellers. The customers in her area are very patient and self distance.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

My garden got off to a slow start due to excessive heat and drought so its limping along. Many items never germinated and some like carrots I didn't bother planting. I'm picking very little but still have hopes for tomatoes and peppers. I save water from kitchen sink and carry it to the garden and hand water each tomato and pepper. When I have extra I water the cucumbers, cantaloupe and squash. The poor garden is a reminder to can/freeze/dehydrate everything you grow in a good year to carry you through the bad years.

I've been able to buy most of what I need lately by going every 2 to 3 weeks. I don't each much meat but then I haven't for several years so no change for me. The meat prices are enough to put me off buying it anyway!! On my last shopping trip to HyVee the shelves of store brand jelly, jam and preserves was empty. More expensive brands were available but I prefer the store brands so didn't buy any. I plant to go tomorrow so will check again. I've been hearing that the second wave of Covid-19 has caused another run on stores. What are you seeing?

When this started and I was unable to purchase tissues, I started using my late dh's handkerchiefs that I'd saved for such a SHTF emergency. I have allergies and typically go through boxes of tissue each month. Even though tissues are now available, I'm continuing to use the handkerchiefs because they are easier on the nose, don't cost anything and reduce waste. I've noticed waste baskets that used to be full of used tissues are now mostly empty. Handkerchiefs do not take up noticeable space in the laundry.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

Just trying to stay stocked up on things. Most stores still have limits in place. 
A lot of it is limit 2. But that is okay because there is things on the shelves. 

Been going into a few different stores from my normal routine. Just paying 
attention to the prices and also the brand names of things. 

We been having quite a few food giveaway events locally. If I know there 
is one coming up , I don't go overboard on what I will get from the store 
that week. 

One thing I been buying is 1 dozen store eggs each week. Cost around $ 1 . 
I been letting my bantam hens hatch their own eggs. I had been getting $ 4 
and recently, getting $ 5 per hatched chick. That beats us eating those 
chicken eggs. Things have slowed down now, so should be able to raise 
some of the chicks for new hens for me. Duck eggs are low in number this hot summer. 
I been hard boiling the duck eggs and feeding those to my baby chicks for 
extra protein. 

Got a garden doing well. It is thanking me now for the water I carried, in this 
hot summer and not very little rain spell. It pays to pay attention. Had to 
also water the flowers next to the house. They are only about half as 
tall as last years. We do need more rain.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

According to the state drought map we are now considered in extreme drought. No news to me! It rains to the south to the east and to the west but not here. A good portion of the state is considered in drought but our area is extreme drought. Usually by the first week in July I'm harvesting and canning/freezing/dehydrating. This year I've picked 5 cucumbers, 1 okra pod, a couple handful of raspberries, 2 radishes, 8 turnips, 2 pickings of lettuce, a few small onions and 3 zucchini. Two rows of potatoes yielded less than a bucket of potatoes half of which are tiny. When I went to use some of the white potatoes they were spoiled inside. Oh, I forgot I picked pods of peas.

I'm so thankful for my food storage and thankful food is still available in the grocery stores because without it I'd starve based on what I'm growing this year.


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## random (Jul 23, 2020)

We're drowning here in NC, happy to share some of it.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

I have always known South West Nova Scotia had unpredictable weather but we seldom have drought conditions. This year is the exception. We had one good rainfall in August and THAT was the only significant rain ALL YEAR!. We have had raindrops a few times and normal fog. That meant hauling water from the lakes to water the gardens. The beans like dry hot weather so are doing okay although the green string beans are not as prolific as normal. The yellow beans did well and if dry weather persist the dry beans should be good. Today is fog and mugginess which is hard on the beans. All else is growing but some things like potatoes are smaller than usual and there is less produce than normal. . We almost totally eat from the garden and have cut back the amount we eat. Whether beans, broccoli, corn, or whatever we eat less and preserve some of whatever we grow. Lettuce, chard, all greens we eat as they don't preserve well. I have been drying herbs, canning tomatoes, blue berries and freezing some. Both canning and freezing broccoli and green peas. Canning green beans. it looks like some of the squash is a failure and tomatoes are blighting although we will still have enough. I dried garlic and it did well but onions not so much. I did manage to to save the small multiplier onions before they blighted. Cucumbers were prolific so I made pickles. All foods at the Natural Food store have drastically increased in price since Covid-19 so I buy only essentials in bulk which won't happen again until October. Essentials are skim milk powder, whole wheat flour, large flaked oats, sunflower and olive oil, bran. I am still buying chia seeds, peanut butter and raisins in small amounts until they get cost prohibitive.. No more chocolate , nuts , pasta or anything else. I was buying honey but at $15 to $18 for a 500 gram jar ( about two cups) it is too expensive. I have started using Stevia instead. Bananas, cat food, TP and Borax come from our local corner grocery and occasionally butter if on sale. Hen feed is expensive so we only kept six hens. One died and the remaining five were laying good. Now one is broody, two are molting so we have only two eggs a day. I have learned from the pandemic not to take food for granted that it will not always be affordable at a store and weather determines how bountiful crops are. . I am also more aware of the importance of saving a portion of everything thing we grow whether a little or a lot for winter meals and we can live healthy on way less food than we normally eat. . The bottom line is God is really the one in charge and will save this world from its downward spiral. We do our part to take care of ourselves and rely on Him to do what we can't.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Its still extreme drought here. Possibly we've moved to the highest level of drought, but I've not been watching the news so haven't heard. We've had a few small showers the last couple of weeks but with the hot weather, it really hasn't made a difference. The soil is total powder. The mulch I put around plants hasn't broken down at all. I got two picking of green beans the second being not too nice. I've leaving any still on or coming on to dry for seed. The pinto beans have dried down so I'm picking them to finish drying inside. If I leave them to completely dry on the plants the pods break open and the beans drop. I get maybe one zucchini and one summer squash per week. The okra is continuing to produce and I've dehydrated 3/4 of a pint so far. The tomatoes and peppers are starting to ripen. Those are the only plants I've been hand watering -- 16 tomatoes and 12 peppers -- which is a lot of work for an old lady! The grasshoppers have found the tomatoes so it may be a small harvest. The Roma's are absolutely loaded and the Big Boy and Better Boy are looking good. The one slicer that I picked has grasshopper damage and since it needs to finish ripening I have a feeling it will spoil first. 

Shopping has been stressful but I've been able to get almost everything on my list most of the time by going to several stores. I have to drive 25 miles to shop but once there I have Fareway, HyVee, Aldi, Walmart, Target and Dollar Tree in close proximity. Some items are missing, a lot of shelves thinly stocked, limits on some items and prices rising dramatically. I'm fortunate in that I still have a year's worth of home canned tomato juice, diced tomatoes, chili sauce and stewed tomatoes, green beans, chicken and lesser amounts of other home canned food. Being a prepper I always keep a supply on-hand of most items I use and just lately I've pretty much be able to buy what I needed to refill my shelves. I was able to pickup a dozen wide mouth pints at the local hardware store after looking all over when I was in town shopping. The small town where I live does not have a grocery store only a Dollar General and hardware store. They did not have any lids but I've got a decent supply on-hand and plenty of other quart and pint jars. I want to can two pork tenderloins out of my freezer and much prefer wide mouth jars for meat.

Imrose, I dehydrate chard, crush it into tiny bits and use it in soups. I'm always amazed at how much chard I start with and how little space it takes up when dry and crushed! I agree God is in control and I'm thankful that He's provided me both the incentive and financial means to stock my pantry. I've been living this way for many years so the Covid-19 mess didn't have much effect on my way of life. 

I don't take it for granted that the store will always be stocked so I try not to waste anything. Lately I've been keeping cooked rice in the fridge and using it with bits and pieces of leftovers. I eat a lot of "bowl" meals such as rice with refried beans and salsa or rice with leftover creamed chicken or rice with leftover chili -- you get the idea.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Ann I just saw your post and think I will dry some Swiss Chard. It is one thing still growing well in the garden. It was dry here all year and beans all did good. They like dry weather. We finally had rain last week which was the edge of hurricane Lara. The rain barrel filled for the first time this year! We save what ever grows each year as every year is different.


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