With a hurricane headed this way, I searched this blog to see if I recalled correctly that I’d given you a post about storm preps at some point. Sure enough, I had! It was about 11 months ago today. Here’s that post “Deep Green Storm Preps.”
A couple of updates to that post: I’ve expanded my rainwater-collection capacity to 450 gallons (it was just 100 gallons back then). Also, since I’m in the middle of my longest-ever “fridgeless living experiment,” I no longer have to worry about eating up all the food in the fridge (or pre-freezing bottles of water to put in the fridge if the power goes off).
Other than that, and the fact that I now have a housemate, storm preps in the Deep Green house are pretty much the same as written here.
Enjoy! And stay safe.
P.S. A reader on my Facebook page just commented, “I’m interested in the ‘fridgeless’ experiment. What foods do you eat and how do you store them? Especially keeping foods free from ants & roaches!”
Great questions! I posted the following response:
“That is a challenge for sure. I keep veggies and fruits in ventilated containers that (mostly) don’t let bugs in. And, I shop once a week rather than once a month or something. Certain fruits & veggies last a few days without refrigeration, as do cheese and butter. Yogurt will keep a couple of days. Meat and milk, if I want them
I either buy them and eat them that day, or order from a restaurant. Ice cream — order a cup or cone at an ice-cream shop. Also: there are wild edible plants growing year-round in Florida so I eat quite a few of those. And I grow a few veggies in my garden (if I had a greener thumb, it would be a LOT more). If you can have food out there ready to pick, it’s way easier than trying to store it (whether with or without a fridge).”
(And of course: If you are into drying or canning food, or want to learn, definitely go for it!! Those skills are a great asset to fridgeless living. I’ve made pickles and sauerkraut on occasion, and really should do more; they are wonderful foods for all-around health. And I made some kale crisps and collard crisps in the solar oven a few months back; those turned out sublime and are definitely worth repeating.)
I’m a huge fan of condiments. BBQ sauce, Sriracha sauce, Sambal Oelek, wasabi, various mustards, jams and jellies … bring them on! The condiments I use don’t require refrigeration. (Anything with mayonnaise I would refrigerate but I don’t like mayonnaise.)