Anyone prepping for corona?

[Alphaville]

gasoline is highly explosive, i would not store it. diesel, on the other hand, is fairly stable, and keeps well in a steel barrel.

[chenda]

I'd be filling up every single suitable storage container with gas for later. What are those metal ones called that store about an extra tank, a rig?

Why would you want to do that? The only safe place for petrol is the cars tank.

@bankai - Yes I hope so, the queues are probably largely the result of restricted entry. I was actually able to find hand sanitiser in Boots last week, which I took to be a good sign.

I'm well stocked up but I'm really missing sparkling mineral water, which I'm having to ration, and alcohol. A large bottle of gin will be going in the emergency cupboard in the future. First world problems...

[Bankai]

Oil is (close to) record low, inventories are quickly filling up worldwide due to overproduction and the demand is not going to pick up anytime soon. That's the last thing I'd think of storing right now. A bar of gold on the other hand...

[slsdly]

I'm glad I mostly gave up booze last fall. Not that I was drinking much before, but it is one less thing to carry and one less place to go . I am stocked up on dried legumes and grains until the fall. I will order more around harvest time to replenish my stocks for the winter. I mill the grain myself into the flour. I have emergency vitamins and minerals of various sorts to fill in the gaps if I run into difficulty getting fresh produce (in addition to what I already buy for dietary restriction reasons). I have seeds on order to do some balcony planting, as well as a hydroponics kits for fun this summer, shifting to winter growing later (now that I have one in hand, I see it should be relatively easy to make future expansions myself....).

Aside: I'm surprised more people don't have bidets in the ERE community. I have a seat bidet installed on my toilet, and have for years. Reams of toilet paper? That is for literally unwashed barbarians.

[Alphaville]

I'm well stocked up but I'm really missing sparkling mineral water, which I'm having to ration, and alcohol. A large bottle of gin will be going in the emergency cupboard in the future. First world problems...

same exact thing here.

currently considering: a sodastream (but it's not really that much cheaper, and i don't want to go the industrial co2 tank way because)

already getting: homebrewing supplies

my #1 booze recipe is a light rum wash that can get sorted in 12 hours

if you have ginger handy, ginger beer can make a refreshing drink for an afternoon's relaxation...

i posted this video in the wine making thread i think...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfnHCdc3BgA

i might have this ready for sunday, and will post results.

Aside: I'm surprised more people don't have bidets in the ERE community. I have a seat bidet installed on my toilet, and have for years. Reams of toilet paper? That is for literally unwashed barbarians.

i can't install here so i bought a handheld one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

it's basically a squirt bottle with a bent spout

--

i really would like to start looking at 3D printers at this point....

[chenda]

same exact thing here.

currently considering: a sodastream (but it's not really that much cheaper, and i don't want to go the industrial co2 tank way because)

Yes the consensus appears to be it won't save money but it saves on plastic waste and avoids carrying heavy bottles. The sodastream are quite expensive and you are locked into buying CO2 canisters with proprietary fittings. Although they are refillable. Good luck with brewing!

I'm doing online poker nights with friends with Zoom so you need a few drinks to get into the group vibe.

[chenda]

A concerning read suggesting likely supply chain disruption and greater shortages over the coming months (as well as lots of waste and spoilation of food) Shortages are currently caused largely by consumer stockpiling, in the coming months it may be a supply shortage and distribution failures.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/busi ... pe=Article

[jennypenny]

There’s a horrible storm blowing through the northeast with torrential downpours. I thought it might be a good morning to take a chance and do some shopping, assuming the storm would keep the crowds down. I was correct (although there’s an army of non-PPE-wearing instacart people wherever you go). I also felt a little better that it had been raining on the shopping carts all night and my groceries got a nice shower before I put them in the car. I actually took my time getting to my car to let everything get nice and wet. Maybe it doesn’t really do much but it can’t hurt. The only downside is that I was soaked to my underwear by the time I got into the car.


I used the blue shop towels. I decided to use one to completely cover an existing mask I own. That way I didn't have to fuss with something new and I can ditch the towel and reuse the mask. I didn't find it hard to breathe through the towel.


Another thing I’m working on is setting up a wash station in our garage where we enter the house. I have a makeshift one set up, but if this is going to be SOP for the foreseeable future, I want something more functional. I’m considering disconnecting my laundry room sink (one of those plastic jobs) and putting it in the garage. I could leave a bucket underneath to catch the water. I can use a ice jug with a spout at the bottom for water. Trying to think of what else would be helpful in that spot.


I’m glad we ordered extra seeds when we did because all of the places I usually buy from aren’t accepting orders anymore except from commercial growers with existing accounts.

[jacob]

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-gallon ... 60769.html (recirculates)
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-Prod ... B00CB57CH6 (drains)

DIY, waterbrick with spigot (or bucket with small hole in the side) on top on a shelf over a bucket, wash in bucket, toss water in garden when done.

So the [consumer retail] world is going to be out of seeds shortly for the same reason it is out of yeast, flour, and toilet paper. Crash course, indeed.

[George the original one]

Some specific food preps I've done to help reduce our trips to the store:

1. Drying tomatoes (general use). 30+ roma tomatoes shrink enough to fit into a single quart ziplock. They're stored in the fridge. Hazard is that they're tasty enough I want to scarf them down as a snack rather than save them for cooking.
2. Freezing celery (for soups & stirfry). Chopping coarse. Blanching required if you're storing them for more than 2 months, so a little bit tedious. Since the celery is being used in cooking, I'm not worried about the texture.
3. Freezing onion (general use). Yes, onions have a good shelf life, but the hazard here on the Oregon coast is how easily everything gets moldy. Chopping chunkier than dicing/mincing to keep from freezing just juice and putting one onion per ziplock. Apparently blanching is not required.
4. Freezing sweet bell pepper (general use). Like the onion, I'm chopping chunkier than I normally would. Apparently blanching is not required. The chopped pieces are spread onto a cookie sheet and then flash frozen on the cookie sheet (70 minutes) before bagging so the pieces don't stick to each other. One cookie sheet will hold two peppers, so process is a little slow.
5. Freezing potato (general use). Peeling, dicing, blanching, and flash-freezing. Slow process, so not doing a lot of this, but enough so there's a reserve for a couple batches of soup or hashbrowns. Filling a quart ziplock.

[George the original one]

I’m glad we ordered extra seeds when we did because all of the places I usually buy from aren’t accepting orders anymore except from commercial growers with existing accounts.

Johnny's Seeds expects to resume accepting orders from home gardeners on Apr 28. Territorial Seed Company isn't putting out a date, but you can sign up to be notified when they resume. Victory Seeds (very small Oregon outfit) still seems to be taking orders with a 2 week backlog.

If you're after hardware like greenhouses, wagons, and row covers, www.growerssupply.com is taking orders.

[EMJ]

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-gallon ... 60769.html (recirculates)
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-Prod ... B00CB57CH6 (drains)

DIY, waterbrick with spigot (or bucket with small hole in the side) on top on a shelf over a bucket, wash in bucket, toss water in garden when done.

So the [consumer retail] world is going to be out of seeds shortly for the same reason it is out of yeast, flour, and toilet paper. Crash course, indeed.

Much more ERE for handwashing:
Tippy-Tap: An Outdoor Hand-washing Device
https://www.permaculturenews.org/2014/0 ... ng-device/

[George the original one]

So the [consumer retail] world is going to be out of seeds shortly for the same reason it is out of yeast, flour, and toilet paper. Crash course, indeed.

The bottleneck appears to be not a shortage of seed, rather one of manpower as COVID-safe routines slow down order processing.

[jennypenny]

Johnnys has changed the date a couple of times (pushing it out each time). I worry that either commercial farmers will catch on and start hoarding it or the powers that be will 'encourage' distributors to limit selling to commercial farmers for a spell (like the mask issue).

[Alphaville]

I’m lucky to be getting my seeds from an alternative source. Won’t be getting such summer classics like tomatoes or zucchini but I got beans, squashes, corn, and other stuff for a community garden, and some experiments, plus various herbs for window boxes.

Still would like to get me a bucket of cherry or plum tomatoes going. Maybe I’ll just buy a plant come May. My buckets, cages, etc are all in the homestead and out of reach for the time being.

[Gilberto de Piento]

U.S. Food Supply Chain Is Strained as Virus Spreads
Disruptions are expected in the production and distribution of products like pork, and localized shortages could occur.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/busi ... upply.html

[Alphaville]

I’m out if free links with the NYT but last I read the donkey in charge of South Dakota refused to order people to stay home and 300 workers at the Smithfield pork processing plant are sick now.

[jennypenny]

My son, who lives in SD, said schools have been closed a month and Rapid (where he is) has been shut down a while. I don't know if they ordered everything shut, but then again, a food processing plant may be exempt. It would be where I am.

I don't consider Noem a 'donkey' and for a republican governor she has been outspoken against some of Trump's policies.

[slowtraveler]

I don't get what everybody says by out of toilet paper. I've seen huge amounts of it on sale in both countries I've been in in different continents since this started. Only thing I haven't been able to find is Cocoa powder.

Nutritional yeast isn't normally available in any of the stores I've been to anyways, it's something I've been seeking since mid last year to no avail. May cave and have to shop for it online.

I have some staples but mostly shopping every 3-4 days for food. Avocados don't store well. Girlfriend is much less hygenic than me so spraying groceries with bleach wouldn't help much. Bleaching all handles, remotes, etc and phones every few days is the big thing. I've got a store of masks and sanitizer but masks are the only thing in short supply everywhere I go.

I would say keeping food on the table is more important( likely to save more lives than it costs) than a .2% chance of death for those infected (using Singapore's numbers) so I agree that food production is essential. People are hungry to work, nobody I meet is too scared of the virus unless they're seniors. Everybody is scared of the economy slowing down.

Maybe I should buy some seeds, they're easy to get here. I've seen them in every store.

[classical_Liberal]

SD is near my neck of the woods, I know quite a few people in Sioux Falls area, and the healthcare system I work for operates in that area. They have probably been the most lax state in social distancing restrictions. Restaurants and bars are all open with business as usual, etc. Up until now they haven't had many cases, but since the food processing incident they have begun an exponential curve. Covid Act Now is reporting it as one of the most at risk areas for future hospital overload. @JP is right in that food processing would have been open and essential even in the shelter in place states. However, SD is not doing itself any favors by failing to enact more restrictions either.