No one ever said life is easy and anyone who is looking for an easy way out will never find that path. Getting off the grid is harder than anything you will ever do, protection and food are just a couple things I have learned about this year. How much food is needed has been the question in my mind for a while.
For food, How much food would it take to keep you for one year? How about your family?
I asked this question many times and although I tried to keep track of the food consumed here its just impossible to calculate how much food to store for one year. So while I was reading in one of my many Face book groups I got a hint of what to do, or rather how to get the numbers I need.
One is home canning summer vegetables that you grow, not just feeding yourself during the hot summer months but the rest of the year too.
Here goes those numbers : One vegetable per day, a pint or quart, for two would be 364 jars. You know you will eat more than one vegetable a day! One lady said " two vegetables a day, can seven different vegetables." For two vegetables a day for one year that is 728 jars! That is 61 cases of food. Making seven different vegetables would be 2,548 jars or 213 cases!
What about the freezer? Well getting off the grid would mean no power or solar power so you can`t expect to have a couple deep freezers sucking all the power dry. ( yes I am going solar when I do the final act, I am the NEW off the grid lifestyle) BUT I do have several vegetables and some meat stored in the freezer.
I did a numbers check on the stuff I have canned and I can say it look pitiful! Seems I am receiving free fruits and no vegetables. No one can live on just fruit.
With this realization I am now fine tuning my goal, I know what I need to accomplish and its going to be a hard road.
No, I have not gave up on shopping at the grocery store but I do want to reduce my spending as much as possible so I don`t have to work my days at a job to please others while doing without myself because the pay is so little. I want to reduce the bills so I don`t have to continue life day in day out in this rat race the world has became.
What I have canned this year : I have 33 pint jars of tomatoes , 12 pint jars of salsa = 2 half pints, 36 pint jars of squash or zucchini products, 5 pint jars of pork n beans, 6 pint jars of chicken broth, 2 pint jars of carrots, 14 pint jars of peaches and 78 pint jars of apple products. I made a batch of chili and two batches of soup but I also eat that regular and its not considered as " for Winter from the garden."
Just pitiful!
I have not tallied up what I have frozen this year and I am still eating from last years freezing of food. I still have food canned from last year that I am still eating also, kale and potatoes and beans are a few.
Calculating fresh home grown food is hardest, Giving up ALL junk food would be extremely hard. However I have heard of a few plants that can sub for coffee if that is something one has to have, I am one :)
Now that I have broke the bad news to those who are like me and is seeking a better life, off the grid, can you manage to feed yourself for a year where you live? I am in Alabama and we have eight to nine months warm weather.
By Andria Perry
Photo By Andria Perry
I used to can a lot and freeze a lot. But now I live in a home where I can't get even a squash plant to grow. Super poor soil. I miss all the food.
ReplyDeleteMy sister uses 5 gallon buckets for tomato plants. I do understand.
DeleteI could never manage to feed myself for a year where I live up in the North sad to say.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a lot of work.
DeleteI never really thought about what it would take to feed my family for a year. There are only three of us but my teenage son can eat.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about it either till I began my journey and now I see those numbers and I am blown away!
DeleteUnfortunately we don't have a long enough growing season - well I guess we would if you could grow and prep everything within 3 months!
ReplyDeleteMany people who have short growing seasons starts the plants inside or in a greenhouse.
DeleteMakes me winder how people would survive in the north if things shut down and no grocery stores were around.
You have had a great crop this year and done great on your canning.
ReplyDeleteBut it fizzled fast with the drought.
DeleteOnly thing I canned so far is dandelion jelly.
ReplyDeleteI do need to start canning more and to make space to store my can goods. I need to break away from the commercial canned foods loaded with sodium and all that other junk.
That is why I am doing this, to stop putting so much artificial in my body.
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