# How/where do you store your surplus?



## violetdelusions (Feb 10, 2015)

What methods do you use to store your emergency and surplus harvest after processing (drying, canning, freezing, smoking, etc)? Do you have a large pantry that you keep everything in, or do you keep such items separate from your normal "staples"? 

Just curious what different methods everyone uses. Also, what's your favorite preservation method?


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Emergency??? Is a short term situation. Surplus???? is what we can not eat before it spoils. It is all what we eat everyday, no waste from going stale or buggy. We try to have 2 years in rotation at the beginning of each winter. A good crop, we may have enough for 5 years. We use as we go, older first but we eat what we want as we want. It is in pantries, lockers, storage sheds, fruit houses, under the bed, wherever there is room. We store what we eat, eat what we store. All this is our staples. Extending the seasons is our favorite, cheap and cost effective, next is storing as harvested, then canning, next is drying. Short term storage is smoked, longer we canned it smoked. We freeze a few things as short term storage, 6 mos. to a year, that we like better frozen. Another favorite is barreling, crocking or fermenting, year around. We also salt a bit of meat and fish. Long term, we will continue to preserve what God provides....James


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## Janis R (Jun 27, 2013)

We turned a bedroom in to a store room with shelving, we store canning jars, cans, toiletries etc.


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## treeshell17 (Mar 30, 2013)

I live in a single wide mobile home. I store cases of water in our bedroom closet, empty canning jars under the bed, bulk foods in the closet in our computer room and I store all my home canned foods in a small closet in the "library". My husband built a heavy duty shelf in the closet and I store a little over 18 cases of canned food. One shelf is devoted to my jars of dehydrated food. It's just my husband and I so we don't need as much food. We are pretty much maxed out on places to store things at this point though. If I ever end up canning more I will just store it under the bed. I like to keep lots of food around for emergency's and because we shop only 1 to 2 times a month.


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

We converted a bedroom to a pantry, put up shelves, rolled in the barrels, etc.
Historically I primarily froze foods, then I added canning and now I've added dehydrating. I use them all and like them for different reasons.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

First, welcome to HT! I converted my smallest bedroom, which is the closest to the kitchen, into a pantry with shelves, hanging baskets, hooks, etc. I store all my store-bought food products, as well as those I've canned and dehydrated myself, and I hang herbs to dry in there as well. I don't separate anything and don't classify it as "emergency" or regular. I have an ongoing rotating system so that everything gets used in time and replaced. There's nothing that I would save for an emergency that I don't eat on a regular basis. 

I plan to build a root cellar this summer, as I plan to start growing more of my own crops like potatoes, squash, etc., as well as starting my own orchard, so I'll need to have a cool place to store those things. I'm also getting more and more into fermenting and cheesemaking/storage, so I hope to incorporate that into the cellar as well.

As for which I do most, that would probably be canning, then dehydrating and then freezing, although I'm trying to get away from freezing as much as possible, as the power goes down too often to rely on this dependably.

I keep most of my food prep items set up ready to go in the kitchen, as I don't like having to drag them in and out of storage and get them set up, etc. Plus, I can and dehydrate year round, it's not just a seasonal thing. I don't have much cabinet space, so to accommodate all of this I bought an oblong dining table, which I call my "harvest table", lol, and some commercial grade wire shelving units. One whole unit is dedicated to my daily use food storage, mix and spice containers, which I refill from the bigger containers in the pantry as needed. I have a pot rack overhead, which holds everything but my stock pots and canners, which are on shelves in the pantry. My cast iron, knives and a rack of my most used utensils are hung on the walls. 

My dehydrator has a permanent spot against the wall at the back of the bar between the kitchen and living area, close to the sink. My grinder is set up on one cabinet, along with my Food Saver. My food processor is set up on one end of the harvest table, and it has lidded baskets underneath to hold my extra attachments for the food processor and my baking implements, and I use the table to roll out dough or do chopping prep, as well as to cool jars when I'm canning. I sewed decorative covers for everything so they don't get dusty or dirty, that way I can just pull the covers off and start right in, then just wash the covers when they need it.

Sorry this is so long, but hope it helps and maybe gives others some ideas.


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## Backyardcreek (Aug 24, 2014)

I have a basement that's 200 sq ft. The basement serves as a stocking & storm shelter. At present we're 'building' bunks from industrial shelving (actual shelves to be utilized for stocking) in one corner. We have four rolling industrial shelves as well as stationary industrial shelves that we are currently utilizing.

We have a 2 foot by 12 foot ledge in the family room (only accessible by ladder). It's sole purpose is to hold decorations. I got the idea to make a folding screen (hang pictures, do dads on it) & now behind it, we have a years supply of TP, paper towels, items that can handle temperature fluctuation since it's near the ceiling.

One closet holds the 'in case I'm sick' items. Two containers that have basic cold/flu OTC meds, various sick room items, and a container that has food stuff that we like to have when we're not feeling well.

Last is a project I hope to get this summer. Water proof exterior storage under our bedroom deck. It would be the perfect place to store camping items that would not become ruined with outdoor temp changes.

All of this came about due to great informative sites like this


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

Our home has a 'mud room' off of the kitchen that exits onto our deck.  It is nothing but a small walk through and a coat closet. I immediately decided when we bought the house that it was my pantry. my husband installed shelves in the closet part and I have freestanding shelving on the other walls. I don't even use the door to the outside. 

I keep all of my home canned foods there. Once jars are empty, I put them on storage shelves in the basement until they need to be used again. I wouldn't want my food stored in the basement. For me out of sight would be out of mind.

here are a few pictures of my pantry. It is constantly being rearranged and depending upon the time of year there are different amounts of canning jars there. This past summer, I had over 300 jars in my pantry.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

We separate the majority of our supplies by "dry" or "wet". The dry, that won't be affected by freezing goes out to the old milk barn, where I built a couple pantries. The wet is scattered among our main pantry, and 2 pantry cabinets I built in one bedroom.

Some things that would usually be considered wet, like oils and shortening, can be stored with the dry as they're freeze/thaw stable.

We keep our most used spices and such in the kitchen pantry.


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## FarmChix (Mar 3, 2013)

Currently, we have a large home, so storage isn't a problem. We have a huge basement. Our biggest problem is that the entire basement, while extremely dry, is also heated. We cannot just close off a room from heat, because it is all part of a boiler system. The boiler system is the most efficient heat I have ever seen. Since we will probably be moving this spring, the biggest thing we are looking for in our new homestead is the ability to continue to homestead and the storage. I have a lot of "stuff" for my work-from-home business, as does the hubs. It is steering us more toward a fixer-upper, but that seems to be where we gravitate anyway. We don't like or appreciate "new". We do a lot of "hidden in plain sight" when it comes to our storage, and do tend to get a lot of grief from family or friends who come over. I play it off as "well, it was on sale" or some other nonsense....but there are some hidden in plain sight things I do that I just incorporate into decorating.....if you can believe that! LOL (mostly the kitchen)


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## Vickivail98 (Sep 26, 2014)

Ozarks Tom, I never thought of separating our storage like that. What kinds of dry things are you storing in the barn? Are dehydrated foods stable enough?


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