O/T any food preservationists/preppers around?

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Mostly, I'm stupidly excited it's almost time for the early fruit harvest around here, so porter peaches(best in the country) and blackberries and...oh my yummy yummy! I'm even pondering some vidalia onion marmalade this year!

Probably a forum on the

Probably a forum on the subject somewhere.

Well, I am a prepper for

Well, I am a prepper for sure. Would love to be a food preservationist but not doing too very well since I moved down south. I knew how to garden in the midwest. Down here in the subtropics it's a whole different game... one I've not been very successful with.

The upside is that my husband is kinda like one of the swamp people guys. BIG time hunter. Our freezer is so full of deer meat and wild hog we can barely fit anything else inside. His method of catching catfish involves sticking his hand in a catfish (or gator) cave, letting the fish bite him, then pulling it out by its mouth.

We also keep a bunch of free range chickens that lay perfectly divine eggs, several pastured pigs/hogs, and a ton of meat rabbits. I have been slowly learning some wildcrafting skills for our area, and I really, really want Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats in the very near future.

So if I could just learn subtropical gardening (which you can do year round here, I'm told), I think I could call myself a prepper/food preservationist. I think it's just a smart way to live these days.

I would love to garden and

I would love to garden and can my own veggies (and fruits) but I don't have the time. And we get way too many deer in our yard so a garden wouldn't reallt be feasible.

Me too. I don't have the

Me too. I don't have the space.

BUT, I have been looking at different ideas to maybe plant some kind of veggies and herbs in boxes on our balcony.

I have a friend who has a gorgeous garden with tons of tomatoes (the one thing they really have success with), herbs, peppers, lemon tree, and some other stuff, so she keeps me stocked during the summer.

My mom was a Master Gardener and and. Master something else (Food Preserver, I think)...she entered the state fair every year. I never understood her near obsession with it all until recently. I'm turning into my mom.

This year for Xmas I'm hoping

This year for Xmas I'm hoping for a bread maker and a food dehydrator.

Did you know you can pressure can venison and stuff too? As long as you have a pressure canned dang near anything but dairy can be preserved! Currently I'm working on a recipe for canning pot pie fillings. There is something special about knowing I can open a few pint jars and have a delicious dinner ready.

And for those without gardens, look Google bountiful baskets and your state, I get most the bulk foods I can from them

I looked into BB a few years

I looked into BB a few years ago after my friend from my home state was raving about them on fb. No BB in my state then and now either. Boo.

I did a perennial edible

I did a perennial edible garden this year.

Maypop, sunchokes, miner's lettuce, strawberries, currants, blueberries, raspberries, perennial herbs, rhubarb, lambsquarters (a weed to most but super delicious), dwarf mulberry, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I did end up planting some tomatoes and lettuce though.

I have a fruit dehydrator and that's always great in the fall when apples are a plenty.