OK, Since at least the USA (where I live) has leadership that is beyond just inept, and is showing clear and present signs of being willfully malicious about this global pandemic, I have decided to share some simple things you can do yourself at home to help alleviate any need (whatsoever) to leave the house for the coming winter months.
Since I very much doubt that my federal or state level governments will appropriately plan for this winter season, here's a small survival guide. The unfortunate reality in the USA, is that
1 in 8 children suffer from food poverty when things are "normal". The COVID-19 situation is poised to be a very protracted period of necessary isolation, reduced employment, reduced income opportunity, and increased food shortage for a significant portion of society. Winter conditions will further increase this unfortunate reality. Hence this guide.
These things should be doable for anybody that has sufficient room inside their house, even city-bound people with no yard.
First up: Setting up an indoor garden.
Materials:
A room you can dedicate to this purpose.
Several large plastic kiddie pools.
Large plastic planters. (Or if you have a 3D printer,
a huge roll of inexpensive nylon weed trimmer, and lots of free time to print them out.)
Bulk potting medium (mix this with soil from someplace.)Some kind of grow light, or other
easily sourced bright light source.
Seeds
Time
Dedication
The following plants can all be successfully grown indoors over the winter, using a shallow planter.
TomatoGreen bean
Black bean
Pinto BeanPepperCabbageKaleBuckwheat (an obscure pseudo-cereal, that
can be made into noodles, or used similarly to rice or barley in soups. It can make a gluten-free flour if you have a flour mill.)
Additional:
It is possible to easily cultivate mushrooms without having to order spawn from a catalog. You just need some fresh mushrooms from the store, a blender, some 3% hydrogen peroxide, an aquarium (or other suitable container you can keep dust out of, and or use cellophane cling wrap on), and some substrate material.
The easiest to grow are oyster mushrooms. These can grow on shredded paper as the substrate, which is difficult for basically anything else that could spoil the culture run to grow on. (like competitive mold.) This makes it easy and effective for the beginner.
The basic process:
Buy a container of fresh oyster mushroom from the store. At least in my area,
these can be obtained at walmart.
Shred an epic buttload of cardboard. (The mushrooms do better on brown, unbleached paper-- but will still grow on white.)
Clean the inside of a blender, and the aquarium with the hydrogen peroxide.
Mix the shredded paper and the peroxide inside the aquarium, until it is moist enough that the paper balls together, but does not easily wring out moisture.
Cover with the cling film, and set aside.
In the peroxide cleansed blender, drop in a small amount of fresh mushroom, and cover with just enough peroxide to cover about half-way.
This stuff will foam like a shaken bottle of soda once you turn it on, so be wary, and DO NOT OVER FILL.
The purpose of this operation is to kill all the parasitic bacteria and fungi that are on the outside of the mushrooms, while leaving the inner portions of the mushroom bits we will produce spawn from alive and sterilized.
Once you have loaded the blender, use the slowest speed, and chop the mushrooms in the peroxide until they are about 1cm sized pieces.
Again, this will foam more than you think possible. This is normal. Expect it. Plan for it. Have towels ready.
Pour the foamy mushroom bits into the prepared growing media, and stir it up while wearing rubber gloves.
Cover the aquarium with cling film and poke small holes in the film for air exchange using a toothpick.
Place the aquarium on a shelf someplace out of the way, where it will remain approximately 70F, and mostly dark. Within 24h, you should see white fuzz forming inside the aquarium, and within 3 days, there should be noticeable mycelial growth. Mushroom pinning should begin approximately 1 month after innoculation. The tank can flush with mushrooms approximately 3 times, by exposing the aquarium to light, and adding some fresh, sterilized water. It is recommended to not completely exhaust the media, but to instead have a fresh load of paper ready to "divide and mix", so that you can revitalize your operation. You can have fresh mushrooms all year long this way.
Other kinds of mushroom can be grown similarly, but will need a different (and harder to keep contaminant free) medium, such as coffee grounds, wheat berries, Milo, etc... These include Cremini (white button and portabella mushrooms) shiitake, and straw mushrooms. The same process with the peroxide can be utilized to initiate spawning from fresh mushroom, but you will have to boil the media to sterilize it, and be very fastidious about keeping the aquarium clean. These mushroom species require a more nutritious substrate, which can harbor bacterial and fungal contaminants.
While you will probably get tired of the fare, if managed well this should keep you in at least *SOME* fresh produce all winter long, and hopefully will provide sufficient nutrient density to prevent deficiency.
In addition to the stay-at-home indoor garden, it is highly recommended that you keep on hand:
A 1 month supply of tylenol, for each person in your house. (You do not know if you will be one of the "lucky people" who gets to enjoy a protracted recovery or not-- Plan for it all the same.)
1 one month supply of toilet paper.
Appropriate cleaning products for a 1 month stay
A fully stocked first aid kit (because you never know, and you should have this anyway.)
With proper prep and effort, it should be possible to avoid leaving the house for months at a time.
In preparation for winter, should you already have a garden outside, and have surplus produce--
It is also entirely possible to produce home-made canned goods. You will need a pressure cooker, mason jars (with lids and rings), and appropriate canning directions for your produce of choice. Many such guides are freely available online. This will let you sock back some things that cannot be easily grown indoors, like sweet corn, carrots, fresh fruit, etc.
If anyone else has any bits of general wisdom to share, go ahead and drop in a reply.
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Topic: Survival Guide for a COVID winter wonderland (Read 2389 times)