1. Plant a few trees for the next guy. I’ve “left behind” lots of fruit trees in my life. ‘sides, in terms of moving–you never know.

2. Properly cared for, an engine will last forever. You may have to resleve it, buy new pistons, etc., but the nice thing about V.W. engines is you get a friend, unbolt 4 bolts, and lift it out of the car. You then replace it with one from a junk yard that you have rebuilt at your leisure. They are quite cheap since there were hundreds of thousands of them built. Check out e-bay. Some were rebuilt before being put into the vehicle–or at least such is claimed. They are simple and easy to work on. (You need metric tools.)

If that’s not your cup of tea, get one powered by a pinto or mustang engine/drive train.

Like I sed, check out the “kit car” section on e-bay.

3. In terms of drying foods, micro-waves also work. If you go the light bulb route, you can vary the temperature by either a light switch rheostat or by changing the wattage. I found that 2 – 100 watt bulbs worked just fine and saw no need to vary the temp. It drives the box I described to about 100 degrees inside where the temperature is 70 degrees. Of course, the actual temperature inside the box will vary according to the temperature outside the box. Youse ain’t gonna do much drying in 10 degree weather–but then you can freeze it.

Be sure and shield the bulbs from food dropping on them. I used #10 fruit juice cans. I cut the top and bottom out and fastened them to the bottom of the box. (Don’t use epoxy–it’s heat sensitive.) Then I positioned the bulbs so that they were “inside” the cans.

Be sure and cover the ventilation holes with scrap fiber glass screening. Drying fruit attracts every insect for miles. In the same vein, if you can put a couple of “rails” under the box and lift it an inch or two off the ground, it also help discourage insects.

The are quite easy to make.

always,
tony

1. Tony’s law is that you ALWAYS get your “money’s worth” out of two things–tools and plants. With tools, it’s not “if” you will use it, it’s WHEN you will use it. With plants, they will yield “results” for years–either food or beauty.

2. Looking for a “good” car? Try some of the “kit cars” on e-bay. Many are “simple”, powered by a VW engine, do not need smog devices (too old), and are easy to work on.

3. Food storage?? How come nobody “drys” things. Make a “box” out of pressboard (or other cheap material), put in a couple of light bulbs, drill some holes in the bottom and cut a hole in the top. Get some fiberglass screening and make some racks. (Do NOT use aluminum screening unless you like aluminum tasting food.)

It works by convection. The bulbs on the bottom of the box heat the air, which rises and goes out the top hole, which draws “fresh air” in from the holes in the bottom. The rising air carries away the moisture.

Mine was 2 feet square and 18 inches high. I had 4 racks, each 2 x 2 for 16 square feet of drying area. I dried everything from apples to squash–even tomatoes.

4. Consider making a solar oven. Many plans on the net.

5. Plant some fruit trees. The sooner the better.

rebel without a job,
tony

Something that can help extend storage life for such things as powdered milk, powdered eggs, flour, etc, is a vacuum packer. You can pick up an inexpensive one for under $50, or look around in garage sales to find one even cheaper. Non fat non instant powdered milk that I buy in bulk 50lb bags has an expiration date on it of about 6 months. Vacuum packing it can make it last up to 18 months. Still not a long time, but if you are rotating your stock and something happens, that’s still more milk that you might not otherwise have for a few months longer than you might otherwise get it to last for.

Some other things, like rice that is not totally devoid of nutrition by processing only lasts for 6 months as well due to the extra oil content, can also have it’s shelf life extended by the same thing. Buying powdered eggs in bulk saves more than enough over canned, if you repackage them the same way.

Etc, etc, etc….. Even/especially when you’re as poor as me, a vacuum packer is almost a requirement. It helps prolong storage life on foods that are cheaper to buy than freeze dried meals. Don’t last quite as long, but you need to rotate through them anyways, and it’s better than the nothing else that we can afford.

BTW usaemergencysupply.com is a good company to deal with for some of these things.

Another thing you might consider, especially if you live in a city, is a small generator, but large enough to run what you need, with some fuel.