Wilderness Survival Skills: A Guide To Identifying Poisonous Plants

Put identifying poisonous plants on your top list of wilderness survival skills and learn how to, with this guide.

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Wilderness Survival Skills: Identify Poisonous Plants

Identifying Poisonous Plants Is One of the Top Wilderness Survival Skills

At this point, we cannot stress enough the importance of survival skills. Identifying poisonous plants is one of the most important wilderness survival skills–it should be part of survival skills training.

Poisonous plants are everywhere–they’re in the woods, the forests, and the mountains. In fact, some of them may even be in your garden.

This makes bugging out look like a dangerous proposition when the SHTF. This is why identifying plants is one of the important wilderness survival skills.

These plants would not cause harm though if you do not eat or touch them. Only don’t eat anything unfamiliar.

Make sure you have an adequate body covering when you’re out there, too. Wear thick or insulated clothing as well as tough and durable boots.

An Ultimate Guide to Identify Poisonous Plants in the Wilderness!

As you read our guide, you will realize it is actually simple and easy to avoid these poisonous plants. Just stick to your regular food and avoid the bitter stuff.

Know your plants and add one more to your wilderness survival skills. Check out the guide to help identify dangerous flora and avoid getting sick in the wilderness.

1. Aconite (Aconitum spp.)

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A guide to poisonous plants would not be complete without the garden monkshood or aconite.

2. Agave/Century Plant (Agave spp.)

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Poisonous plants can be found almost everywhere like the agave which is often used for landscaping.

3. Almond Seeds (Prunus spp.)

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Bitter almonds contain amygdalin and prunasin, which are cyanogenic compounds. The type of almonds you find at the grocer are sweet almonds, which are safe to eat.

4. Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia spp.)

More often than not, beautiful flora turns out to be poisonous plants. Just like the angel's trumpet which belongs to the toxic plant family, Solanaceae–pretty but deadly for sure.

5. Apple Seeds (Malus spp.)

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We included apples in this list of poisonous plants because of the toxins found in the seeds. The seeds have to be chewed so hard, though, for the toxins to come out.

6. Apricot seeds (Prunus spp.)

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You wouldn't think of the apricot as one of the poisonous plants but once again, the seeds or kernel are toxic.

7. Autumn Crocus/Meadow Saffron (Colchicum autumnale)

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Some of its common names may be amusing but make no mistake, meadow saffrons are still poisonous plants.

8. Azalea (Rhododendron spp.)

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The azalea is positively one of the most poisonous plants, so poisonous in fact, the honey made from them can still be toxic.

9. Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens)

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Its name alone will tell you bittersweets are one of those poisonous plants you should avoid.

10. Black Cherry Seeds (Prunus serotina)

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Poisonous plants tend to make the fruit and only the fruit edible to animals and man. Black cherry seeds or pits may look edible but only animals can consume them without harm.

11. Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger)

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The black henbane makes it to the list of poisonous plants because it has caused coma in some cases.

12. Black Locust Seeds (Robinia pseudoacacia)

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When it comes to poisonous plants, always remember death is possible. The seeds of the black locust are one example.

13. Black Nightshade (Solanum spp.)

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Almost all members of the nightshade family are poisonous plants, including the black nightshade.

14. Cardinal Flower/Lobelia (Lobelia spp.)

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There is more to the bright red color than being similar to a cardinal's robe, which is toxicity.

15. Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)

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Some poisonous plants look like other harmless varieties. The Carolina jessamine looks a lot like honeysuckle.

16. Carolina Laurel Cherry (Prunus caroliniana)

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This is one of the most poisonous plants because of its hydrocyanic acid content, a type of cyanide.

17. Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)

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Castor oil may be used in alternative medicine, but the beans make it one of the most common poisonous plants.

18. Cestrum/Jessamines (Cestrum spp.)

The Cestrum jessamines are some of the poisonous plants with berries which are toxic whether green or ripe.

19. Cherry Seeds (Prunus spp.)

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The luscious cherry may surprise you how it made the poisonous plants list, but the seeds are quite toxic.

20. Chinaberry (Melia azedarach)

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Apart from being one of the poisonous plants, the chinaberry tree has also become a nuisance to the country's landscape.

21. Chinese Lantern (Physalis spp.)

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Most poisonous plants are attractive and the Chinese lantern is one of them.

22. Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)

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It's always a good thing to name plants based on what they are, poisonous plants. Chokecherry is both toxic to human and animals.

23. Climbing Lily (Gloriosa spp.)

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The climbing lily is one of the poisonous plants which contain colchicine. It's one of the poisonous houseplants to watch out for.

24. Columbine/Granny's Bonnet (Aquilegia)

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Poisonous plants like the Columbine can be eaten after cooking or drying but the improper intake can be dangerous.

25. Corncockle (Agrostemma githago)

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Corncockle is one of the poisonous plants with pretty flowers you need to be cautious of.

26. Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster spp.)

Cyanogenic glycosides in poisonous plants like the cotoneaster are converted to cyanide during digestion.

27. Crabapple Seeds (Malus spp.)

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Crabapples are similar to apples, poisonous plants whose toxins are found in the seeds.

28. Crow’s Poison/False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve)

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Poisonous plants resemble edible plants and in this case, crow poison looks like garlic.

29. Daphne (Daphne spp.)

Like some poisonous plants, the bark, sap, and berries of Daphne have the most toxins.

30. Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna)

Of all the poisonous plants to humans, the deadly nightshade is one of the most popular.

31. Death Camas (Zigadenus spp.)

Most parts of poisonous plants have toxins in them, like the death camas.

32. Dogbanes (Apocynum spp)

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Dogbanes are poisonous plants found all over the country.

33. Doll's-Eyes/White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)

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Some poisonous plants like the doll's eye give away the fact from their looks alone.

34. Dumb Cane (Dieffenbachia sp.)

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The dumb cane stands out among poisonous plants because of its tongue-swelling effect.

35. Elderberry (Sambucus spp.)

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The elderberry is yet another one of those poisonous plants containing toxic alkaloids.

36. English Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)

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Some poisonous plants are invasive and the English laurel is an example.

37. English Yew Seeds (Taxus baccata)

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While the leaves of the yew are more toxic, the seeds are poisonous just the same.

38. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Some of the most beautiful things in this world are also some of the most dangerous, like the foxgloves.

39. Holly Berries (Ilex spp.)

It may not be as toxic as the other poisonous plants but it has more victims.

40. Poisonous Mushroom

Mushrooms are forager's favorite but many of its species are poisonous and even deadly. This video from Mycogypsy will show you how to identify edible from poisonous mushrooms–another one of the vital wilderness survival skills.

41. Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)

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Unfortunately, lovely hydrangeas are one of the toxic houseplants to watch out for.

42. Japanese Pieris (Pieris japonica)

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Never eat the flowers, fruit, and leaves of poisonous plants like the Japanese pieris.

43. Jerusalem Cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum)

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The Jerusalem cherry belongs to the nightshade family of poisonous plants.

44. Jimson Weed (Brugmansia spp.)

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This weed is one of the toxic plants which are deadly.

45. Juniper (Juniperus sabina)

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Take extra precaution when handling juniper for your holiday decorations, especially the species Juniper Sabina.

46. Lambkill (Kalmia angustifolia)

Lambkill is one of the poisonous plants which induces coma and death.

47. Lantana (Lantana camara)

Some poisonous plants like the lantana are popular among gardeners.

48. Larkspur (Delphinium spp.)

The larkspur is a member of the monkshood family of poisonous plants.

49. Loquat Seeds (Eriobotrya japonica)

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Poisonous plants have deadly effects like the seeds of the loquat.

50. Madagascar Periwinkle (Vinca rosea)

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While vinca is known for its medicinal attributes, excess in consumption can be dangerous.

51. Manchineel (Hippomane mancinella)

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Of all the world's poisonous plants, the manchineel holds the title for the most dangerous.

52. Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

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Marsh marigold is one of the toxic plants to avoid when you're in the marshes.

53. Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)

Avoid eating the fruit of poisonous plants like those of the Mayapple.

54. Moonseed Plant (Menispermum canadense)

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Some poisonous plants look like the edible variety so be very careful.

55. Morning Glory Seeds (Ipomoea spp.)

When you learn about these toxic plants, it's easy to see that the seeds are dangerous.

56. Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)

When you see poisonous plants like the mountain laurel, stay back.

57. Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa)

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Only the ripe fruit or the natal plum is edible, the rest are poisonous.

58. Nectarine Seeds (Prunus spp.)

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Like some other poisonous plants, nectarine seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides.

59. Oleander (Nerium oleander)

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Stay away from the oleander plant because its sap alone is deadly.

60. Peach Seeds (Prunus spp.)

Yes, even the seeds of peaches can be toxic so just enjoy the fruit.

61. Plum Seeds (Prunus spp.)

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It can never be stressed enough how dangerous it can be when you eat the toxic seeds even from your favorite fruits.

62. Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum)

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This is yet another notorious member of the hemlock family of poisonous plants.

63. Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

The poisonous plant of the Toxicodendron genus has urushiol. A mere brush of this toxic plant can send you to the hospital, so learn how to identify poison ivy here.

64. Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum)

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Like poison ivy and poison sumac, the poison oak releases the allergen urushiol.

65. Poison Sumac (Toxicodendron vernix)

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Among the poisonous plants in its family, the poison sumac is the rarest.

66. Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

Like most poisonous plants, every part of the pokeweed is toxic.

67. Potato (Solanum tuberosum)

Possibly the most beneficial of all poisonous plants, there is only one part of the potato which is safe to eat.

68. Rattlebox (Daubentonia punicea)

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Although the seed pods of rattlebox or purple sesbane look like vegetables, the seeds are toxic when taken.

69. Red Squill (Drimia maritima)

There is no doubt about the red squill's toxicity as it is used to get rid of rodents.

70. Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorius)

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Although the rosary pea is toxic, the seeds find good use in jewelry.

71. Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum)

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These beauties are toxic plants with toxins in every part.

72. Mistletoe or Viscum

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A kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas is enlivening but eating the toxic fruits might as well be the kiss of death!

73. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)

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Compared to other poisonous plants, tobacco or nicotiana does not need any introduction.

74. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)

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Raw berries from poisonous plants such as the toyon should never be eaten.

75. Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca)

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Just because its name has the word tobacco doesn't mean you can chew or smoke this plant. Its leaves are fatal when ingested.

76. Water Hemlock (Cicuta spp.)

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According to most sources, water hemlock is the most lethal of all poisonous plants. Its lethal toxins are concentrated in the roots.

77. White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)

Poisonous plants like the white snakeroot contain cyanogenetic chemicals. Livestock who consumed this plant passed the poison to humans through milk which is called milk poisoning.

78. Wintersweet (Acokanthera spectabilis)

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There's nothing sweet about the wintersweet except perhaps for its lovely flowers. You still need to avoid it, though.

79. English Yew (Taxus baccata)

Don't be fooled by the inviting fruits of this holiday plant– it is one of the deadliest among all poisonous plants. The English or European Yew has leaves which are more toxic than the seeds.

On the flip side, watch this video from AlfieAesthetics to help your identity edible plants, also one of the essential wilderness survival skills:

Identifying poisonous plants can be tricky, especially in emergency situations. Never assume when you saw an animal eat a plant, you can eat it, too.

Remember your goal is to survive. Identifying poisonous plants should be on top of your wilderness survival skills to learn indeed!

Have you had any encounters with any of these poisonous plants? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

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***Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for informational purposes only. Please read our full disclaimer.***

Wilderness Survival Skills: A Guide To Identifying Poisonous Plants | https://survivallife.com/wilderness-survival-skills-what-you-need-to-know-about-poisonous-plants/

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on April 23, 2015, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

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preparedness

4 No Cook Meals For Surviving The Pandemic And Food Supply Shortages

When it comes to your food supply, you just can’t risk not having enough. These no cook meals will be a great addition to your food supply planning. Check out the recipes below!

No Cook Meals to Help You Through the Pandemic

As of the writing of this article, there are 20 meat processing plants that have been shut down due to COVID-19 infections. We have been worrying about these types of effects on our food supply for months now, and this is the first real sign of how infections can affect the food supply.

When you walk into a supermarket, you might not see all the choices you had in the past. An empty meat case is a humbling thing for your eyes to fall upon. It’s the shocking realization that the seemingly infinite supply of chickens, pigs, and cows that are butchered for us has begun to run dry!

To deal with this issue, we are going to present four no cook meals that will help you create dinners at home that will feed your family without worrying so much about what’s available, or unavailable, in the meat case.

1. Smashed White Bean, Avocado and Salted Pork Sandwiches

Smashed White Bean, Avocado and Salted Pork Sandwiches | No Cook Meals for Surviving the Pandemic and Food Supply Shortages

As preppers we get beans. There are a bunch of ways to use beans and this a great example of how you can pack a sandwich with great nutrition and protein.

Serving: Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

Can of White Beans
Olive Oil
1 Avocado
8 Slices of Whole Grain Bread
8 Slices of Salted Pork (Prosciutto, Ham, Virginia Ham)

Instructions:

Begin by draining your beans in a colander then smashing them up in a bowl add a few glugs of olive oil, salt, pepper. This little mix is delicious. If you add some minced rosemary, you can even turn this into a delicious dip.
Pit your avocado and cut it in half and then quarters lengthwise. Leave the skin on.
Lay the bread out on a clean work surface for assembling the sandwiches.
Spread your mashed bean mix onto one side of the bread.
Peel your avocados and slice 1 quarter for each sandwich. Spread slices over the bean spread.
Add a few slices of your pork to over the top of the avocado.
You can finish this sandwich with some lettuces, fresh sprouts, or just eat it as is.

2. Delicious Crab Salad

Canned crab is a protein option that will likely be around through much of this meat crisis. It does have to be kept in refrigeration, but it’s delicious and this chipotle mayo salad is great in the spring and summer.

Ingredients:

1 Can of Crab Meat
1 Bunch of Asparagus
Chipotle Mayo
1 Bunch of Green Onions
1 Bunch of Cilantro

Instructions:

Drain your crab in a colander and set it in the sink.
Slice your asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Throw them into a bowl.
Thinly slice your onions and your cilantro and throw that into the bowl, as well.
Gently toss in the crab meat.
Squirt on enough Chipotle mayo to coat everything and toss gently not to break up the crab meat.
Chill in the fridge and serve.

3. Simple Greek Salad

Simple Greek Salad | No Cook Meals for Surviving the Pandemic and Food Supply Shortages

The combination of simple summer ingredients makes for an incredible quick salad that you could add other proteins, too, if you wanted. These could be canned meats.

Ingredients:

2 Large Tomatoes
1 Cucumber
1 Red Onion
¼ Cup of Feta Cheese
A Few Sprigs of Fresh Mint
½ Cup of Kalamata Olives
Balsamic Dressing

Instructions:

I like to cut the tomatoes in large chunks and have them kind of be the main course in this salad. Peel and slice your cucumber in half. Remove the seeds and either dice or slice in half-moons.
Peel and slice your red onion in half. Julienne your, or thinly slice, your half onion.
Add all these ingredients to a bowl. Finely slice your mint.
Add your olives, crumbled feta, and mint to the bowl and add enough dressing to coat everything.
Stir it up and allow this to chill for at least an hour for the flavors to really blend.

4. Mediterranean Tuna Lettuce Wraps

Mediterranean Tuna Lettuce Wraps | No Cook Meals for Surviving the Pandemic and Food Supply Shortages

Using some similar ingredients and adding a protein like tuna, you can create some delicious lettuce wraps. The key to a good lettuce wrap is to have most of the items around the same size. So, consider that when you are preparing this dish.

Ingredients:

Iceberg or Butter Lettuce
Canned Artichokes
Canned roasted Red peppers
Fresh Cucumber
Feta Cheese
Minced Olives ¼ Cup
2 Cans of Tuna
Green Onions
Basil

Instructions:

Start by peeling all the full leaves from your lettuce. Set them on a plate either cover them with a wet paper towel or put them back into the fridge.
Dice the peppers, artichokes, and cucumbers into cubes. Go no larger than ½ an inch.
Thinly slice your green onions and basil and add them to a bowl with your diced vegetables. Add your loves to this bowl and mix them thoroughly.
Crumble your feta cheese over the mixture.
Drain your tuna thoroughly and then add that to the bowl, as well.
Gently toss this mixture. Try not to break up the tuna and the cheese too much but incorporate it thoroughly.
If you want, you can add some olive oil to the mix or a few glugs of balsamic vinegar. It’s also delicious just how it is.
Scoop a few tablespoons into a lettuce leaf, wrap it up and eat up!

These no cook meals should help lessen the stress you feel when thinking of what to feed your family. If you don’t have the specific ingredients, use your creativity, and use what you have. You might discover a new recipe while you’re at it!

What’s your favorite no cook meal recipe? Please share it with us in the comments section!

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Best Plants For Your Survival Garden

With everything that’s going on, you might already be considered starting your own backyard garden. Why not? It will guarantee your food supply. But first, what are the best plants to put in your survival garden?

Survival Garden Plants You Can Start With

Pristine raised beds with perfectly manicured robust plants, void of weeds or any other blemish – this picture might come to mind when you think of a garden. The survival garden is a different thing.

Your perfect raised bed garden is designed to please the eye as much as it will please the stomach.

You can grow a lot of food in a traditional garden but the problem is, it’s as pleasing to your eye as it is to many others. Any onlooker will appreciate a great garden and when hard times arrive they might decide to appreciate that nice garden while you and your family sleep. They might help themselves to the things they want.

The benefit of a survival garden is that it blends in with the landscape and looks more like a bunch of overgrowths than an actual garden. No one has perfected this practice like Rick Austin the Survival Gardener and his books are best pieces of literature on the topic to date.

So, what are the best plants to include in your hidden survival garden?

1. Perennials

Perennials | Best Plants for your Survival Garden

There are no better plants to include in your survival garden than perennials. These are literally plants that come back year over year and provide you with food for truly little effort. You can add these anytime to your survival garden you are going to want to add them.

They can be a bit of an investment and many do not produce until the second year they are in the ground.

Another great thing about perennials is they are harder to identify than more traditional plants. Examples of great perennials are:

Asparagus
Horseradish
Sunchokes
Egyptian Walking Onions
Sea Kale
Day Lilies

2. Fruit and Nut Trees

Fruit and Nut Trees | Best Plants for your Survival Garden

Planting perennials around fruit and nut trees will give you a great base for the rest of your survival garden. Now, you will have food-producing trees, which very few people can identify, surrounded by hard to identify perennials that will all produce food for you.

Fruit and nut trees will require some mulching, pruning, and maybe even some fertilizing to assure you get some high-quality production.

These trees are another great investment that will produce food for years. Here are some easy to grow fruits and nuts to plant in your survival garden:

Peaches
Apples
Paw Paw
Plums
Almonds
Hazelnuts
Walnuts (these will get HUGE but they will produce a lot of walnuts)

3. Herbs

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Herbs are a unique addition to your garden because they can be used to enhance food, used as alternative medicine, and to ward away bad pests and insects destroying your survival garden.

They can also double as a ground cover. Plants like thyme are great for this.

I am going to give you a list of some of the best multipurpose herbs for your survival garden. These are:

Lavender
Rosemary
Oregano
Thyme
Sage
Mint

4. Brambles

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Raspberries and blackberries are the very best of these to add to your survival garden. Not only do they produce an incredible amount of berries, but they also come back year over year.

These caning bushes will put up new shoots year over year and if they are not tamed they can even become quite invasive.

Because they are dense and thorny these brambles can also be used as deterrents to keep people out of your garden. Imagine a naturally occurring perimeter of these brambles around your robust food forest.

You might have naturally occurring blackberries in your area; these are very easy to transplant. You can pull up a single cane and transplant that to your property. In a couple of years, you will be building a nice blackberry patch.

We also keep Blackhawk raspberries, and they are very prolific.

5. Annuals

Annuals | Best Plants for your Survival Garden

What would a garden be without some great annuals? The mistake we make most is that we allow the annuals to dominate our garden year over year. Because of this, we find ourselves with mountains of work each spring because we are starting all over!

The survival garden is the opposite. It is dominated by trees and perennials.

That does not mean that we cannot use it to grow some annuals but just be careful. You want to grow annuals that produce the most food per plant. These are easy to identify.

1 carrot seed makes 1 carrot.

1 green bean seed makes dozens of green beans.

That is the difference. Choose the right plants and you can grow tons of food in a small area. If you dedicate your garden to low yield plants, well, you will have a low yield.

Start with these:

Sweet Peas
Green Beans
Corn
Pumpkins
Butternut Squash
Acorn Squash
Cherry Tomatoes
Eggplant
Kale
Spinach
Zucchini
Summer Squash

A Garden for Your Survival

You might have a prolific garden in your backyard already. If you choose to call this your survival garden, that is okay, but there are some tremendous risks in that. Namely the fact that this garden can be had by anyone who is willing to wait till you fall asleep.

Now in normal circumstances that would not happen, but we are not preparing for normal circumstances, are we?

Your survival garden should be a hidden location that offers up a collection of food-producing edible plants, trees, and medicinal herbs that looks as much a mess as any other collection of woods. When you walk into that section of woods, you will understand what you have created. But for most other people, it will be a mystery.

Do you have other ideas for survival garden plants? Let us know in the comments section!

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How To Use Traditional Food Preservation Methods

Why buy preserved foods when you can just make them on your own? Learn more about traditional food preservation methods below!

6 DIY Food Preservation Methods to Try

In today’s day and age, “food storage” refers to your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. It’s a very comfortable life that allows us to purchase canned, dried, frozen, and shelf-stable ready-to-eat goods. But what if that all went away?

The panic buying resulting from the coronavirus pandemic has given us a glimpse into if store shelves were ever unable to be restocked. Preppers ready and educate themselves for much more severe conditions, including a total breakdown of society.

It’s hard for the average person in America to imagine a world without electricity, clean running water, trucks delivering to our local supermarkets daily, and easy access to fuel and other commodities.

Most households would be almost immediately overwhelmed at the prospect of taking care of themselves with no outside help.

But the truth is that humans have navigated how to survive in all types of conditions, for thousands of years. It is only in our most recent history that we have come to rely so heavily on infrastructure and not ourselves.

Now is a great time to learn about food preservation techniques that have proved successful, in the case that you might ever need them. Here are some of the most simple and accessible methods for food preservation:

1. Dehydration

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An electric dehydrator is a great tool if you have electricity available, but sun-drying food without electricity is extremely simple, as well. All you need is a screen, sunshine, and a breeze.

You can dehydrate meats, fruits, and vegetables. The food needs to be cut very thin (less than ¼” thick), and scoring the food will help speed up the process.

Lay the food out on the screen and in direct sunlight. The breeze will help keep flies away; keep the screen high enough that animals cannot reach it. In several days, your food will be dried and can be stored!

2. Pickling

Pickling | How to Preserve Food Using Traditional Methods

You can pickle nearly any vegetable by putting it in vinegar. You can boil the vinegar to help with flavor, but be sure to let it cool again before adding the vegetables, to preserve their crunch.

Pickling extends the life of vegetables by up to 3 times.

3. Olive Oil

Olive Oil | How to Preserve Food Using Traditional Methods

Storing foods in olive oil can make them shelf-stable for up to a year! Used by Mediterranean people for centuries, olive oil preservation is perfect for any foods you would usually cook in the oil – meats, vegetables, fish, and herbs.

If you are planning to store foods at room temperature, prepare them with boiling vinegar or salted water first.

Glass storage containers are recommended, and the food should be fully submerged in the olive oil. As always, do not eat from leaky containers or those with bulging lids.

4. Eggs in Mineral Oil

Eggs have been one of the hardest foods to track down recently, and as a result, more people are buying chickens to ensure their personal supply. If you have access to fresh-laid eggs, you can successfully preserve them for up to a year with mineral oil.

The key is to not wash the eggs until you are ready to use them. Brush the dirt off the eggs and thoroughly and completely coat the eggshells with mineral oil. Store the eggs in an egg container on your counter.

Once a week for the first month, flip the eggs over. After a month, move the eggs to a cool, dry place until you need them.

When you are ready to use the eggs, put them in a bowl of cold water. Those that sink are good to eat; throw the rest away. Wash and cook them as you like.

5. Root Cellar Storage

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Root vegetables like potatoes and carrots can be successfully stored in cool, dark places like basements or cellars. Storing them in paper or burlap bags helps with ventilation to limit spoiling.

Temperatures between 45-50° F are perfect, but you’ll first want to cure them by laying them out (not in direct sunlight) for 2-4 weeks.

6. Canning

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A post shared by Stivers Homestead (@stivers_homestead) on Apr 14, 2020 at 12:43pm PDT

Purchasing a pressure-canner and a supply of Mason jars, lids, rings, and jar tongs can help with food preservation of a bountiful harvest. Fruits, vegetables, meats, and even fish can be canned at home and stored for several years.

Jams and jellies are a real treat after eating simple, preserved food for a long time. Canning vegetables can also be done in boiling water but can take years to perfect your method.

One of the most important things to look out for are bulging lids, which indicate a strong seal has not been achieved. It is not safe to eat from cans with bulging lids.

Try Other Methods, Too

There are other traditional methods of preserving food, including smoking and salting meats, beeswax wraps, and preserving meat in lard.

We highly recommend researching and experimenting with multiple approaches. Take notes and perfect your techniques; self-sufficiency is something to be proud of.

What’s your favorite food preservation method and why? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section!

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