Panic Buying due to Cornavirus Pandemic

sanderson wrote:My car battery was dead, also!    My husband runs the errands and uses his truck, so my car hadn't been used for over 2 weeks, possibly 3.

Hmmm, maybe we should try to start the truck -- just in case.

We order our groceries from Walmart. I put us on the unlimited delivery plan and gave out our pw to the whole clan. Every 5 days or so, our 4 families do a group order. It's delivered to our house. We get "together" -- 10' apart -- gloves and masks -- disinfectant wipes, etc., and divvy up the goods. It's our only social contact -- our idea of a family gathering -- in this "new reality." Today will be even more fun, since it will probably be pouring down rain. 

Hmmm...starting vehicles once in a while is something I hadn't thought about. Good reminder! I find I have really been missing fresh produce. I have a couple of bags of baby carrots for the dog, for as long as those last, but he will really miss fresh broccoli stems, those are his favorite. I find that I'm just not crazy about canned fruit, but I did find one fruit that freezes surprisingly well, in addition to the frozen strawberries that I have from Costco. It's mangoes! I love mangoes and I like to add them to smoothies along with strawberries. But I also enjoy munching on them frozen in summer, like a popsicle, or letting them defrost and enjoying them just like that. So I have three zip lock baggies full, and trying to make them last. The yogurt will disappear before they do, and I wasn't able to get powdered milk to make more. I don't really drink milk any more, so I don't usually have any on hand, but I do like to keep powdered milk around, and make my own yogurt. That way I don't have to worry about milk going bad before I need to make more yogurt. Here is the recipe I use that works well with powdered milk, in case that's all some of you may have. You can add sweetener of your choice, if you like. You do need a 1/4 cup of yogurt to start it off.

Homemade Yogurt
 
5 cups low-fat, whole, powdered or skim milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt with active cultures

In a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan, heat milk, stirring frequently, over medium heat to 185 degrees. Remove from heat and let cool to 110 degrees.
Place the yogurt in a medium bowl. Using a whisk, gradually stir in the cooled milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until smooth between additions. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, poking 2 or 3 holes for ventilation. Transfer to a warm place (about 90 degrees) until the milk begins to thicken around the edges and the yogurt is set, about 5 hours. (I turn the oven on to just warm it then turn it off, put the bowl in and leave it overnight)

Place bowl in refrigerator until completely chilled. Reserve at least 1/4 cup of this yogurt to begin next batch. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. This recipe is easily doubled.

No shortage of seeds at Rural King this morning.  Good to see such a wide selection available.

Wow.. looking good OG.  I stocked up while our Rural King had the seeds. Supposed to get some 80 degree weather here the next few days.

I believe this virus crap has taught folks a lesson about stocking up. Most of us older folks were taught to keep a stock of goodies. At least we were.

I guess some people would call us hoarders but we're not.  When we get a little overstocked, there is a food pantry two blocks from us and a senior citizens community center about four blocks from us and  we donate to them and we usually have enough produce to give to the neighbors.

Truly Blessed and highly favored.....  Ya'll stay SAFE now. Ya hea..??

Mr. B., I think I absorbed the activities of my foster parents as they must have lived during the hard years before WWII.  Mum always had a full larder  and dad provided all the veggies we needed so we were always well fed. They kept a few chickens and had a share in the pigs that were raised by a neighbour. The chickens were fed with scraps from our table and I do remember mum, bless her, heating up the scraps for the chickens because it was cold in the winter. 

So from that I have always had a reasonable store cupboard even now that I am alone, and have been  able to donate some to the local food bank.

But it seems that many people have no idea how to cook and live on beef burgers and processed food all the time. They have no idea that what they spend on a burger can be used for good ingredients to make a balanced and tasty meal.

hammock gal wrote:
I've been making bread since I was in high school, so that's many years. And I never understood why people thought it was so complicated. I enjoyed it, and found it pretty simple. But sourdough on the other hand has always intimidated me. It seems so complicated. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it. My girlfriend gave me a starter and I managed to kill it. And it's a shame, because I love sourdough. Maybe one of these days.

Yes. I make 2 to 3 loaves a week. Just put in the ingredients and mix (using a bread maker, but only for mixing). So we buy the yeast by the brick from Costco when available.

But making sourdough depends on getting a good yeast strain for your starter from the environment. To me, that's like letting your lawn go to seed and hoping you'll end up with nothing but Kentucky blue grass.

Making a sourdough starter is actually quite easy. 

I could write out the recipe but will point you to a YouTube video that explains the whole process and has a link to a PDF you can print out (for those of us older people who prefer paper). 

I was going to give you the direct link, but I'm under the forum's watchful eye. Google the following series of words, then: "Joshua Weissman sourdough starter." 

You will have a good starter in a week. Now, good luck finding rye and whole wheat flour if you don't already have any. I'm well-stocked, as I make bread daily and have 20-30 lbs on deck at all times. My local Kroger has King Arthur flour on its shelves most days of the week during the pandemic, which is surprising since Costco is out, Amazon doesn't even list it anymore, etc. 

Brian

When we arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the military, our next door neighbor offered us a Sourdough starter and we gladly accepted it. We kept that starter alive the entire time we were stationed there, and even brought some back to the lower 48 with us in the RV. Once you get a starter for it, you can easily keep it forever by just refreshing it every time and new batch of bread is started.

HG, please post your yogurt recipe in the recipe subforum. Making something healthy from a dry product sounds like a great idea, whether during an epidemic or normal times.

Sourdough starter. I made some starting with whole wheat flour. If I can do it, anyone can do it. I even kept it alive. Joshua, you can post the written instructions in the recipe subforum.

OhioGardener wrote:A whole new concept of gardening...

5 Plants you can grow as Toilet Paper Replacement

  Meanwhile back at the ranch ............ Whilst you're waiting for them to grow . It's got to be a hippy hippy shake or a few 7 inch squares of thin plastic carrier bags ( wash & reuse according to your attitude on recycling )

sanderson wrote:HG,  please post your yogurt recipe in the recipe subforum.  Making something healthy from a dry product sounds like a great idea, whether during an epidemic or normal times.

Sourdough starter.  I made some starting with whole wheat flour.  If I can do it, anyone can do it.  I even kept it alive.   Joshua, you can post the written instructions in the recipe subforum.

 We have one packet of dried yeast & I'm reluctant to use it as there seems to be a shortage in the shops where we are in the UK 
 Has any body used one of these dried yeasts in a quart bottle of cooled clean boiled water  and four ounces of dissolved sugar to  use the dried yeast as a starter culture  bottle .

Then when it is a week or so old use half of it for making bread & the other half for a new baking culture ?  
 It might need several bottles on the go at once .... one made new each day to get a culture strong enough in the first bottle after say 7 days . 

Similar to the way you do when making a ginger beer plant .  We used to have three on the go in the summer months & when the level of ginger in the first jar reached half way up the large jar it was used to make the ginger beer . & a new one was started .

Plantoid, interesting.

bgardner wrote:Making a sourdough starter is actually quite easy. 

I could write out the recipe but will point you to a YouTube video that explains the whole process and has a link to a PDF you can print out (for those of us older people who prefer paper). 

I was going to give you the direct link, but I'm under the forum's watchful eye. Google the following series of words, then: "Joshua Weissman sourdough starter." 

You will have a good starter in a week. Now, good luck finding rye and whole wheat flour if you don't already have any. I'm well-stocked, as I make bread daily and have 20-30 lbs on deck at all times. My local Kroger has King Arthur flour on its shelves most days of the week during the pandemic, which is surprising since Costco is out, Amazon doesn't even list it anymore, etc. 

Brian

Watched the video. Might be interesting to try AFTER the pandemic. The recipe wants you to shell out 100 grams (about a cup) of flour material every day, even if you aren't baking every day. It will take about 7 cups of flour just to get to the point that you have working starter. Perhaps there is some way to just refrigerate it, rather than feeding it daily?

Speaking of panic buying, here's the intro of an e-letter from High Mowing Organic Seeds:

Dear Growers,   
 

Our hearts are warmed to see how many of you are turning to seeds and growing as a response to COVID-19. It is clear that people are ready and eager to provide for their families and neighbors during these uncertain times. Because of record-breaking order volumes we have made some tough decisions. As of April 11th we are not accepting new orders from home gardeners until April 28th, and are currently only accepting commercial farmer or seed rack orders via email or phone. We are not accepting orders on our website during this time.   

  

We want to be clear that this pause does not represent a lack of care for home gardeners. This pause is meant to help us rework our processes and make necessary changes so that we can effectively and accurately communicate what we have in stock and when growers can expect to receive their seeds. In the meantime, we encourage gardeners to reach out to their local farm and garden retailers to try and source our seeds from the local businesses that carry them. Please find a list of these retailers here.
 (Note: The link does not work since the site is off-line.)

I have to agree, KJ. I'm seeing LOTS of new folks on various gardening, homesteading, & cooking fb pages asking for very basic info that's already in the files etc. It's like they want to be spoon-fed.... Doesn't happen that way!

AtlantaMarie wrote:I have to agree, KJ.  I'm seeing LOTS of new folks on various gardening, homesteading, & cooking fb pages asking for very basic info that's already in the files etc.  It's like they want to be spoon-fed....  Doesn't happen that way!

They need to be spoon-fed as they are starting from scratch and need all the help that they can get.

Kelejan wrote:

AtlantaMarie wrote:I have to agree, KJ.  I'm seeing LOTS of new folks on various gardening, homesteading, & cooking fb pages asking for very basic info that's already in the files etc.  It's like they want to be spoon-fed....  Doesn't happen that way!

They need to be spoon-fed as they are starting from scratch and need all the help that they can get.

My two cents worth: If anything good could possibly come from this virus, it's teaching folks to grow some of there own food and I'll bet most people will continue to garden when this is over.

I just noticed my neighbor, who has never had a garden since he has lived there, now has about a 20x20 ft section of his yard tilled up and ready to plant.

Kelejan wrote:At least they can plant some potatoes but now I do cringe when I hear about tilled earth and now I know what damage it does to the worms,  microbes and other small creatures that help make the soil what it should be.

  I agree but I hope once he gets into the gardening spirit, I can convince him to build boxes over his garden and fill them with Mels mix and show him how much less work the SFG system is.

   I only have four, 4x8 boxes left (and a bunch of containers) but perhaps I can show him I can grow more in those boxes and containers than he can grow in a 20x20 row garden with less work.

Good for you, Mr. Booker.  I hope he will appreciate the advice you give him.

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=eySTo2GgvoY&list=RDCMUCbYFhcKSE2mWYB0yD_Qr_8A&index=4

 A friend gave me this urban gardener link where  a guy slices up several tomatoes in 1/4 " slices ,  lays them on a bed of potting soil , covers them over lightly waters them well , keeps the dish of seeds  moist & in 6 to8 days  seedling appear.
 Note it will not work with sterile tomatoes  nor will it work with irradiated tomatoes .

 In the same series there are also loads of other seed garnering tips .

Just catching up. It is truly amazing how many people are buying seeds (most of which will expire or never be used, I'm afraid). What they don't realize is that it is a least 2-3 months before most plants will be bearing.

sanderson wrote:What they don't realize is that it is a least 2-3 months before most plants will be bearing.

It depends on whether this will be over by June, or continuing until November.

markqz wrote:

sanderson wrote:What they don't realize is that it is a least 2-3 months before most plants will be bearing.

It depends on whether this will be over by June, or continuing until November.

I will not be betting on any month as it seems to be getting longer and longer.  In other words, I have no idea.   My plans are on hold.