Preppy Prepping

In my continued search for high protein foods to add to my Stores, I ran across another unique piece of information. A common pond plant, known as duckweed, is currently being researched and is quickly moving into the position of our newest “superfood”. It’s packed with protein, far more by volume than almost ANY other protein source, doubles in volume every 24 hours (making it very plentiful), and can be eaten fresh alone, added to other foods such as salads or sandwiches, or dried and made into a powder to be sprinkled on eggs or any other food to add extra protein. It also can be fed to ducks, as it’s name suggests. I was fascinated! Since we have a backyard pond, I did more research. Turns out, it won’t work on our pond, which has a waterfall. It doesn’t like moving water. But it will grow in any nutrient-rich standing water. It reproduces asexually, like cloning, so it typically doesn’t seed. Some studies seem to indicate that, while it dies off at first frost, some particles drop...

I’m constantly finding out new things from my research,  which I mostly do during the middle of the night when I can’t sleep. For instance, I printed out directions for making a home still (not QUITE as easy as my sons claim), reviewed ways to store meat by salting, which my father’s family in Canada lived off when he was growing up, but is nearly impossible in the South, and stay current on new techniques and ideas from farm blogs and some small-time preppers, like me. One of the blogs I was reading recently mentioned something I had not considered, but is worth pursuing. While at the grocery store, pick up a couple of extra cans of, and watch for good sales on, canned meals that already have meat added. For instance, pork and beans (the better brands contain hunks of ham and ham fat) and canned chili with hamburger meat. While the ratio of meat to fillers may be small, having some cans of these foods will allow you to serve your family a meal containing meat without having to bre...