What do you stock up on?

When I was buying the "fines" yesterday, I saw a bottle of Neem oil and took photos of prices for that and other things on the shelf.  Thinking I'd look at prices at least online.  (I'm a thrift shopper.)  I think I have a small bottle from growing roses years ago (attempting to) but not sure.  I've been keeping my eye out for some of the fungal stuff to inoculate my compost, I think?  Fish emulsion?  Bone meal or Blood meal? 

The likelihood of being left without something essential...  we don't know what we need.

What would you stock up on if you see it?   To fight insects and problems in the South?  To add to my compost mix?

markqz wrote:Did you say you had ants? Consider diatomaceous earth for use on your boxes and around invasion entrances.

If you see really good deals on hand spray pumps, they're going to come in handy for spraying these and other compounds.

I don't have ants.  Well, not yet, not in the garden/plants.  We do GET ants of various types.
I have a very large bag of food grade diatomaceous earth.  In a trash can.  Somewhere.

Hand spray pumps are a great idea to have around.  I think I know what you are talking about --
One or two gallon bottle, you pump the handle and have a spray wand.

If anyone needs some hand sprayers (like those for household use), I can recommend the 2-pk pro bottle
for $5 sold at Harbor Freight.  Good reviews, and we're happy... after having the ones from other stores
break. (Or come glued!  Grr.) 

I talked to someone yesterday who suggested we double our tools we use all the time. 
Rakes and shovels and such.  They're going to be hard to come by.  As it happens we
might have some passed on to us, good old ones.  Better than new.

I have supplies to last through at least 2023, if not longer, hoarder that I am.

1. Seeds. Back filling for next year. I have a lifetime supply (I'm 73) of seedling cups, labels, and durable seed trays.
2. Canning, vacuum freezing and dehydrating supplies - enough for 4+ years, especially Ball Lids since lids can not be reused.
3. Pests. Spray bottles since mine fail every year or so, and each ingredient has its own marked bottle. hose attachment spray containers, Watering nozzles that I like, Neem concentrate, Dr. Bronner's Liquid Peppermint soap, insecticidal soap concentrate, horticulture oil (scale), rubbing alcohol (mealy bug scale on peppers), rat traps, Terro outdoor ant bait stations, humane bird netting.
4. Everything for plant support: trellises, stakes, cages, green garden tape, bridal tulle, assorted binder clips and plant clips/ties.
5. Bags of composts. CA is a desert for composts and I no longer can compost. Ace Hardware compost 3 hours away, G & B Purely Compost, and composted chicken manure. Stored on pallets and covered.
6. Bird feed for winter 2022-2023.
7. Dollar Store: Betty Crocker scissors, plastic shoe boxes for misc. supplies
8. For small in-ground dirt strip and container fruit trees: Espoma Garden-tone, Citrus-tone, acid loving-tone.
And just in case, 4 cu. ft. of coarse vermiculite and cube of peat moss.

SOOSE: wrote:If anyone needs some hand sprayers (like those for household use), I can recommend the 2-pk pro bottle
for $5 sold at Harbor Freight.  Good reviews, and we're happy... after having the ones from other stores
break

That will be interesting to look into, curious about quality.  I have bought "Harris" Pro Sprayers from Amazon, 3 pack for $15 or so, having been so frustrated with bargain sprayers.  Another out of character purchase.  Now you have sparked my interest again and I found these on EBay.

Frost, the Harbor Freight price is good,  reviews good.  My only forewarning is that their spray bottle is taller than I'd like, but that seems to be standard with"pro" spray bottles.

Canning lids and rings.  

Compost and vermiculite.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Canning lids and rings.  
Compost and vermiculite.

 TY, ScorpioRising and glad to meet you.   I think I have my share of vermiculite, though we'll have to see how much is left when I fill these beds.  I could have gotten my calculations wrong!   All good ideas.  I do NOT have enough compost. 

As far as canning supplies, I will be new to canning. I use my jars to vacuum store dehydrated veg/fruits/and tofu jerky so far.  I have no idea how many canning supplies I'll need!

[ Off topic here maybe but carrying on the subject of canning...  I was watching a "preserving food" video just yesterday, and learned that it is no longer considered safe to can summer squashes (unless pickled).  As a new gardener, I was kind of counting on the abundance of summer squash as a hedge against other garden failures, and I planned on putting some away for winter.  Yikes.  I'll have to find out more.  ]

Soose, Check out this Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SafeCanningByTheBook

Debbie also has detailed videos on YouTube under "Debbie's Back Porch."

If the recipe isn't in a recent Ball or Bernadin book, further testing may have been conducted on an older recipe and deleted from safe canning. Don't use canning recipes found on this Forum, unless they are also found in the Ball/Bernadin books.

You are already used to dehydrating, now you can add canning and freezing. I love my Food Saver vacuum sealer for freezing things that can't be canned safely, or if the frozen method produces a more palatable product than if it was pressure canned. Think canned peas verses frozen peas!

Another SFG gardener turned me on to Debbie's Back porch.

Ty Sanderson. I will check out Debbie's channel right away!

I didn't realize until I watched the program this week that there were newer canning guidelines. But it's been many many years or decades since I had heard our tomato varieties are less acidic nowadays. Whether that's accurate or not, it have me a sense of caution about blithely canning just any way.

I need a book! (Which do you recommend?)

And I bet my local cooperative extension agency will have more info as well.

Do you use both water bath and pressure canning? I did jot down a list of what would be safe for each.

I need a vacuum sealer. The reviews have given me pause. Recent models of previously reliable brands of all sorts of machines including the Food Savers seem to have problems.

Vac sealer bags are probably something to stock up on.

Hi Soose, welcome!  I bought the Big Ball Book of canning.  I only water bath can, not pressure can so my items must be pickled, or made into jam, etc.  

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi4_cfb2OH2AhXOKM0KHeV6DdkQFnoECBYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBall-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving%2Fdp%2F0778801314&usg=AOvVaw0D-AnabSOvY8agsxw17sXR

I love it!  Very helpful!

I freeze my squash. My kids got me a dehydrator for Christmas, so will play with that, too!

Ty Scorpio, I am going to order a Ball canning book.  Should be safe with them.
I am thinking I have not accumulated any where enough canning lids.  For dehydrating
and vac'ing, you can use older lids more than once.  For canning you have to use a brand new lid.
How did our ancestors survive?

I bought - or a friend bought for me - a 4 gallon crock for sauerkraut.  With plunger. 
Now I think I need other stuff to make sauerkraut?  I haven't even had a chance to look
at recipes.  All I've ever looked at was countertop sauerkraut used for a raw diet.

And I want to make pickled beets. 

I also picked up two of the smallest 1/2 gallon pump sprayers 
https://www.harborfreight.com/05-gallon-multi-purpose-sprayer-56167.html
and two of the regular liter hand spray bottles at Harbor Freight for garden use.
I had no idea what sizes to get.  These pump sprayers were on sale.

Soose wrote:I bought - or a friend bought for me - a 4 gallon crock for sauerkraut.  With plunger. 
Now I think I need other stuff to make sauerkraut? 

Cabbage.

OhioGardener wrote:


Interesting question. As recent as my childhood, we grew up in rural America with no electricity and preservation of food was necessary for survival. ...

Ty, Ohiogardener.  I am not a Spring chicken myself.  I remember my grandmother poured hot paraffin on fruit preserves in mason jars.  (Safe?)  I'd forgotten the glass-lidded jars, and would not have known they require a new rubber gasket each time. Root cellars and cellars were common and lined with home canned jars. There was also an ice house down by the river, where my grandmother rented storage lockers -- I remember going to retrieve green beans. I remember her first refrigerator, and before that, the ice man dropping off a block for the old ice box, but I must have been very young for that. I wish I'd picked up more skills in food preservation than shelling beans and peeling pears.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Hi Soose, welcome!  I bought the Big Ball Book of canning.  I only water bath can, not pressure can so my items must be pickled, or made into jam, etc.  

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi4_cfb2OH2AhXOKM0KHeV6DdkQFnoECBYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBall-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving%2Fdp%2F0778801314&usg=AOvVaw0D-AnabSOvY8agsxw17sXR

I love it!  Very helpful!

I freeze my squash. My kids got me a dehydrator for Christmas, so will play with that, too!

I think this book is the most recent.  I no longer pressure can because it was just too heavy.  Sold it for what I paid fort it. Bought the Victorio steam canner, which can be used for anything that can be water bathed, as long as it is no longer than 45 minutes. I have the simplest Food Saver for vacuum sealing for freezing. And, a dehydrator on long term loan from my daughter.

OhioGardener wrote:

Soose wrote: For canning you have to use a brand new lid. How did our ancestors survive?

Interesting question. As recent as my childhood, we grew up in rural America with no electricity and preservation of food was necessary for survival. When we butchered a cow or hog, the meat was salt cured to preserve it. Vegetables and fruit was canned in Ball jars with a glass lid and a new rubber seal. All were stored in a hand dug underground fruit cellar for the winter. Somewhere around the mid-50's the modern-day canning lids and bands were made available in our area. Around that same time REA brought electricity to our farm, with refrigerators and freezers to follow.  What a difference 80 years makes!

!!! Wow. Securing food in those days was a part time/full time job.

Soose wrote:. . . .  I am not a Spring chicken myself.  I remember my grandmother poured hot paraffin on fruit preserves in mason jars.  (Safe?)  I'd forgotten the glass-lidded jars, and would not have known they require a new rubber gasket each time..

Parafin is definitely a no no. I also used to on pour hot paraffin on top of jams. I think the glass jars with the rubber gasket is no longer consider safe. But, reusable Tattler lids have been tested and are now on Debbie's approved list. Debbie's FB page has good topics to preview.

Soose wrote:  All I've ever looked at was countertop sauerkraut used for a raw diet.

Debbie's Back Porch has a video on making small batches of sauerkraut.  I make them in pint jars and store in the refrigerator.  They can also be water bathed or steam canned.

And I want to make pickled beets.

Me, too.  They have to be pickled, though, not fermented.  The only other thing that can be safely fermented are young cucumbers.  https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/prep_foods.html

Parafin is definitely a no no.  I also used to on pour hot paraffin on top of jams.   I think the glass jars with the rubber gasket is no longer consider safe.  But, reusable Tattler lids have been tested and are now on Debbie's approved list.  Debbie's FB page has good topics to preview.

Just checked and the rubber gaskets safe for both water bath and pressure canning!  Apparently the FDA recommends using a new ring each time....but it was ok for 100 years, so....do with that what you will

Yeah, canning stuff….I just scored a bunch of lids.  And I was basically out of picking spice which I got some of.  Seems to be better now than in the 2020-2021.  Wow…

Scorpio Rising wrote:Yeah, canning stuff….I just scored a bunch of lids.  And I was basically out of picking spice which I got some of.  Seems to be better now than in the 2020-2021.  Wow…

Scorpio Rising, what brand lids do you use, please?  And where ordered? Thanks.

OhioGardener wrote:We stopped at Rural King and they had pallets of Ball canning jars, lids, and bands in middle of the aisle. So, we are now well stocked for the coming canning season.

I like visiting Rural King. I just don't know how many lids to BUY as I've not canned.  I have only been dehydrating and vac packing in the mason jars so far.  I don't know if I'll have enough of a harvest to actually can anything but I have stocked up on mason jars, and built a shelf to hold them.

Soose wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Yeah, canning stuff….I just scored a bunch of lids.  And I was basically out of picking spice which I got some of.  Seems to be better now than in the 2020-2021.  Wow…

Scorpio Rising, what brand lids do you use, please?  And where ordered? Thanks.

Can't go wrong with Ball/Kerr.  I would go with these now that they are back in stock.  Check Walmart.

Hopefully you bought the latest Ball Canning book(s) for safe canning. https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t23564-safe-canning-debbie-s-back-porch

Pur is made in China (they stepped up to fill the vacuum when everyone went crazy buying up supplies).  I can't remember the success/failure rate in forming a safe seal for Pur, nor for Golden Harvest.  I'll see if I can find the information.  Denali is also made in China.  Just because something is made in China doesn't mean they are inferior.  Found the Denali review by Debbie Seagraves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESveBlJLnis

Anchor Hocking is supposed to have a high success rate in sealing.  However, one order had dings in over half of the lids and rings.  I suppose this could happen to any company, but to drop the ball on quality control after years of a good reputation isn't a good sign.

Here is the video review by Debbie Seagraves on Tattler lids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5kYetXfl7o

I have Ball, but you are right!