NY, READ THIS!!! Small room Prepper

Have you seen the news about NY? It was only 3 days in and reports were coming in  of people eating out of dumpers, Of people who are on welfare not being able to get food due to the power out and the can't use their cards.  Of fight breaking out over bottles of water... ( Think about that for one second... In the middle of rain storm people are fighting over bottle water, Starting to see how DUMB America has become)  So many people are in a real bad place. now i could laugh a little and trust me i have a slew of jokes.. ( IE good think NY rats are the size of dogs.. at least no one will go hungry) And I would have giggled on that till i read that some NY'er are eating pigeon. Which is a very tasty bird. But when you think these people pay 200 dollars for a dinner. Pigeon must be a real culture shock,,



But the whole thing did make me think. This is a city of million of people. Who have limited space and consume massive amount of resources.  If I HAD to live there. Now what would I do to avoid this stuff happening to me.( to get me to live in NY now adays ... I better have a gun to my head the whole time)



Well one I would have a garden. And before you say they can have gardens you are totally incorrect. BIG TIME. lets just say there is zero empty lots. And all you have is your apartment. It's going to be a little tougher and might cost a little more. but hey what's worth more food or that new Iphone?  if you said Iphone please stop reading here, i don't think i want to help you.....



Every Ny apartment has a fire escape and windows.. if not you live in the basement or subway.. no worries you can still grow food...Creeper....  You save your 2liter bottles, and you can create hanging plants , did you know tomatos, lettuce, peas, can be grown like this.. just place it in a window hanger and take care of it. You can use  two saw horse and create a clever garden in your home with a half of a 50 gal plastic barrel and grow carrots and potoato along with everything else.. ok not corn.. growing corn sucks and it's a bitch... But everything else you can you just might need to use string to move it to where you want to grow. And for those who live in cave... go to http://homeharvest.com/fluorescentplantcarts.htm

And figure out which one will work for you. The real key to these systems is the lights which are the most important part. Plants needs a special kind of light so your basic light around the hose isn't going to do it. Also get a pet rabbit.. better yet get two. Now only can you use the waste from the rabbits.. IE their crap to place in the inhouse garden, you can use coffee grounds, or tea grounds, egg shells, and your other fruit and vegie peels. This will save a little cash on fertilizer for your garden.. Oh but what to plant......

Well one thing you must plant with out a doubt is something you eat. When I started my gardening which I knew very little of.. I'm a meat eater not a druid. I planted lots and lots of radishes.. and they came out looking great.. I have about 50 of them. Then I realize.. I don't radish that much.. I think I ate three. But my tomatoes I eat about 10 5 gallon buckets.. I made home made sauce .. completely from scratch no paste.. is was SOOOOOooo good. So plant only what you enjoy eating.. you not will feel that the work you put into was worth it.. and trust me on this when you grow your first veggie and cook it or eat it raw.. the idea of going to the store is kind of a turn off. A plant you grow will taste better then the freshes from any store.

Now what kind of seeds. I have some friends who asked me this and told me I should make a blog on this topic alone. So I will give you a quick run down . Heirloom seeds are the best.. yes you pay a bit more. But i'm going to tell you how if you buy them once you won't have to ever buy them again:)

Lets say you bought heirloom seeds for lettuce, tomato, and carrots. You let one plant each go.. you don't harvest it. AT ALL. The lettuce and carrot will grow these big long stems and produce flowers.. Do not pick these.. the flowers will die and turn brownish.. I suggest you take a little sandwich plastic bags and cover these flowers.. When they turn a dark brown and the stem feels brittle you break it off and take it to the table, place a piece of white paper down on the table. And you take the flower part which should look totally dead and have no pedals . You take that little casing and break it open. And you will find all the little black seeds and those little guys will grown next year. Place them in a empty pill bottle and LABEL IT.. ( sorry found that out the hard way) And place some where cool and dry. Yes, you can place them in the freezer. Now tomatoes.. you let one branch of your plant go unpick. And yes you will see a big juice perfect tomato on that branch don't pick it. And when if fall off. Take it bad place it on a small plate or small bowl, or even a sandwich bag. But leave it open. You want this tomato to go dry. And you will get lots and lots and lots of seeds. And chance are REALLY good if you plant tomatoes in the same spot every year.. they will regrow like weeks almost. Now lets say you are going for potates. Which si something I figured out now.. and still am not a master.. Well, growing weeds I got that down PAT. But everything else is a learning curve, this is not a thing you plant and walk away and come back shocked you have food. It don't work that way.. AT ALL. But Potatoes. The very best way I found:) is go to a farmer makes. But some potatoes and as you cook them up if you see any that are growning green shoots or eyes, you place them in a box in a cool dry place. Then the next spring, you cut and plant the eye down. Now my wife.. she planted them like this.. she cut them and chuck them. Like I said we are still learning....

But the real trick with potatoes is this.. as the plant grows you NEED to place more dirt around the stem so only a few leaves show. The plant will actually grow more potatoes this way.

Now here you have some food and winter months are coming.. what do you do? Well you can freeze it. And yes that will be fine till you run out of power and the food thaws and you are straving again. Good work. Or you can get a pressure canner. Which are nice. Or you can water bath can them. But what ever you choose have a clear understanding you WILL mess up. And at first you should freeze half and can half.

But even if you don't want to do ALL of that. Bc lets face it.. you will get dirty and your home is going to smell of plants. What to do.. well .. there are these magical places call stores. And you can buy food there and Alot of it is in a can. Did you know you can get like a whole meal in a can? I know crazy right?.. Every home in my book should have at least 7 cans of everything you eat. That means if you like to add mushrooms to your cooking have seven cans. Seven jars of sauce.. and lots of dry noodles and bean. Go out and get a big thing of flour . You know that big weird looking box in the room with the fridge that if you play with the buttons it gets really crazy hot.. that is called a stove.. learn to cook. It's fun and tasty. And no matter who you are, There is nothing more romantic then a well home cook meal. And home made bread you made.. HA, you won't find a better loaf any where. I share you my recipe here

Original recipe makes 2 - 9x5 inch loaves

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  
• 2/3 cup white sugar or 1/3 cup of honey ( I been using this My god yummy)
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
  

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  
• 6 cups bread flour
  

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, ( if you dont have a thermometer, make you water as hot as you can and then mix your honey or sugar and when they are nice and dissolved touch the water with your finger it should be a little warm) and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
   

And thats it. Try it.. It fun and with a cup of coffee a slice is.. make you'll find out. And yes, you might mess up. It's like life YOU WILL MESS UP. Learn from it move on.

So lets say you did all that.. Do you have water?

Seriously. How a city with every one has a bottle of yuppy water on their hip can run out of water is just funny. Take two old soda bottles clean them and fill them with water and place them in a box in the closet . This whole blog is for those with a little space. And it works, next don't leave all your money in the bank. Take about 200 dollars if you have it and place it in a hiding spot. Book, loses floor board. But don't carry with you all the time, you'll spend it. Heck place it a pill bottle and place it in the box with the water, so you have some money when things go bad...

the government is Not there to help you. If you think they are, you need to go talk to the native Americans like the Apache or Cherokee, we'll tell ya ALL about how great the government help is.. But most of all, you need to understand you have this think called a brain, and it loves to think.. try it. Think for your self. And prepare yourself. Bc I have to tell ya, When I lose power I am like a kid at Christmas. The whole family is. Why? Bc we train our selves for it. We want to be ready and be ready to help stupid folks who will need our help. And yes, I plan on helping. But I also plan on rubbing it in also. So till next time. Enjoy.. and be sure to try the bread recipe