Hello Pack.Sorry this column was a bit late, I was not feeling well most of last week. I hope you had a productive week of prepping. The weather was nice here all weekend, so we got a lot done outside, but this week looks like we might be dealing with some more winter-like or at least chilly, weather.
We spent some time working on our beehives this weekend. We used Bobby’s new two-frame honey extractor to quickly separate the honey from the comb.
The device looks a lot like a metal version of an old-fashioned ice cream maker. It stands on legs, and has a large crank that you work to release the honey. Cleaning up inside of the extractor tub was surprisingly easy.
There was not much honey left after the bees ate on it all winter, but there was still a pint or so left when we separated it from the comb so I could render it into wax.
Before too much longer it will be time for spring foraging and I will use the rendered wax to make salves and chapsticks, and perhaps a few candles to tuck away for prepper-ish Christmas presents.
Our most exciting prep this week was garnering a new to us greenhouse. It needs all new plastic, but the 10 X 20 foot long greenhouse was free if it was taken down and moved.
The only problem now is to figure out where to put it. Sunny and level ground is at a premium here on our in the middle of the woods survival retreat.
My Bobby is on a mad hunt for more Mason jars, rings, and especially lids. He used to buy them by the sleeve each year, but there isn’t even a little box of lids to be found anywhere – either locally or online.
We have several thousand Mason jars, but adding to our stockpile each year is part of the spring preps.
I am glad that so many folks started to grow and preserve more of their own food due to the pandemic, but it sure has caused not only vastly decreased availability of both supplies and seeds, but a huge jump in prices.
In other preps this week, we worked on our compost pile and turned the process into a sustainability homeschool lesson – as we did with the honey and comb harvesting.
Our daughter’s homesite is coming along very well, our land looks a lot different after clearing a space to put in her modular home. Her tiny house cabin is going to be turned into storage for preps and to use as a medical clinic during SHTF.
This Week’s Questions:
- Have canning supplies and seeds been hard to find in your area? Are you experiencing price increases too?
- What are your biggest spring prepping projects?
- What did you do to prep this week?
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March 15, 2021 at 01:08PM
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