Food & Water
The two things a household runs out of first. Long-term food storage, rotating pantries, freeze-dried, canning and mylar — plus water filtration, storage, sourcing and treatment. The ground truth on what actually feeds and hydrates a household when the supply chain stalls. Plain reviews and honest taste tests, no panic.
Top picks in Food & Water
Curated by topic, not commissionAll curated
Traditional breakfast methods that still work today
Woodstove breakfast preparation in a log cabin: cast iron cooking, garden vegetables, and off-grid morning routine without electricity.
Understanding 100% Whole Wheat Flour Part 1
Introduction to fresh-milled whole wheat flour: properties, uses, and differences from refined flour for long-term food storage and home baking.
Free Greenhouse Heating Winter 2026–27: 300W Solar Heating Experiments with Thermal Mass
Building and testing a low-cost solar thermal mass heating system for winter greenhouse production using passive solar principles.
Prepare Now: Cyber Attacks, Grid Failure, and Communitarian Emergency Readiness
Seventeen minutes on grid-down and cyber-attack risks, practical household steps (water, cash, fuel, food storage), and community planning lessons from Hurricane Helene recovery.
Eating city squirrels: Viability and technique
Forty-five-minute exploration of whether and how to trap and prepare urban squirrels as a subsistence food source in a prepared lifestyle.
Fire Cider: Homemade Immune Booster Ferment
37-second walkthrough of making fire cider—a fermented vinegar-based tonic with citrus, garlic, herbs, and spices—for immune support and cold/sore throat relief.
43% of Americans Can't Cover a $1,000 Emergency: You Don't Have to Be One of Them
Five pantry strategies to free up cash for emergency savings, plus a four-week challenge and tracker to build financial resilience through food security.
13 Pantry Staples I Buy in Bulk (All Under $5 at Walmart)
47-minute breakdown of budget-friendly long-storage pantry items, storage techniques, rotation methods, and sample meal plans for building a 90-day food supply on a tight budget.
Quick Hash Browns from Canned Potatoes
43-second walkthrough: pressure-canning potatoes for shelf-stable storage, then using them to make crispy hash browns in a skillet.
Easy Weeknight Dinner: Cooking From Your Food Stores
33-minute walkthrough cooking ground beef and cabbage skillet with roasted potatoes from shelf-stable ingredients, with cost breakdown and recipe links.
Kill the Quack Grass: Planning and Preparing to Move the Garden to Its Final Home
27-minute walkthrough of site preparation and invasive grass removal when relocating a food garden on off-grid mountain homestead.
Catching Crabs in Rivers and Cooking for Survival: Spicy Roasted Squid
63-minute walkthrough of catching crabs in rivers and preparing them for eating, plus spicy roasted squid preparation in a survival context.
I Ate Nothing But Survival Tabs for 3 Days: Performance Test Results
Three-day test of Survival Tab emergency rations: energy, cognitive function, hydration, and gastrointestinal effects, with a final rating for food-storage planning.
Few Giants Control Our Food Supply
When Ahold Delhaize's network went down, Hannaford, Giant, Food Lion, and Stop & Shop all went dark simultaneously—a demonstration of food-system centralization risk.
7 Product Recalls: Food, Beverages, and Medication Safety Alerts
Breakdown of seven active product recalls involving food, beverages, toothpaste, and medications, with details on contamination risks and how to check your household supplies.
How to Close Down Your Garden for the Season
Fall garden cleanup strategy for northern climates: when and why to remove mulch, pest/disease management, and soil preparation for spring planting.
Stockpile 11 Foods to Survive: 90-Day Supply for a Family of Four Under $600
Nine-minute breakdown of 11 shelf-stable foods that keep for decades, with cost-per-serving math, complete-protein pairing, micronutrient gaps, and a FIFO rotation system.
I Spent 3 Years Trying to Grow All My Chicken Feed
Three-year case study on growing chicken feed in 1,800 sq ft: what worked, what failed, crop-by-crop yields, and why commercial-feed independence remains unsolved.
Stocking Up on Freeze-Dried Foods for Emergency Preparedness
41-minute walkthrough of freeze-dried and shelf-stable foods to add to long-term storage, with a sample sausage fried rice recipe using pantry staples.
Spreading Redmonds volcanic clay on broomsedge and moss-covered pasture
Four-minute walkthrough of applying volcanic clay soil amendment to restore degraded hay fields, with regenerative ranching context.
Free Water in the High Desert
Short walkthrough on capturing rainwater in arid climates for off-grid living.
20 Pantry Staples That Last Forever (And 4 Myths You Need To Know)
Thirty-one minutes categorizing 20 shelf-stable foods by actual storage life, storage rules, and debunking four common misconceptions about forever foods.
7 Foods Quietly Disappearing From Shelves
Seven foods facing real supply pressures and price rises: USDA data on cattle herds, bird flu impacts, tariffs, and crop decline—and how to build a buffer by adding two items per grocery trip.
Is the Vevor Greenhouse Worth It? Setup and 20 MPH Wind Test
Eight-minute hands-on review of a 20x10 portable greenhouse: setup walkthrough, how it performs in 20 mph wind gusts, and practical considerations for homestead food production.
Editor's note
“If you only have a weekend and $200, fix water before anything else — it's the prep with the highest ratio of survival impact per dollar. On food: most $400 emergency kits could be replaced with $120 of supermarket staples plus mylar bags. The expensive part of food prep is the marketing, not the calories.”
— Cockroach editorial
Cooking a Goat: Field Processing and Outdoor Cooking
Thirty-three-minute walkthrough of field-dressing and cooking a goat using primitive outdoor methods.
Your Soil Needs to Breathe | Soil Health Series Part 4
Learn why soil aeration is essential for garden health and practical methods to improve aeration through compost, cover crops, and mulch.
Micro Clover for Yard and Soil Health: Why I Choose It Over Lawn
Fifteen-minute walkthrough of micro clover as a soil-building alternative to traditional lawn grass in an off-grid mountain homestead setting.
Rethinking Weeds in the Bull Pastures With Sheep Mixed in the Herd
Six minutes on how adding sheep to a bull pasture changes weed management strategy and grazing dynamics on a regenerative farm.
Using Up Our Garden Harvest, Pantry & Freezers Before We Move
Thirteen minutes on harvesting garden produce, preparing vegetables for the freezer, dehydrating herbs, and managing a full pantry during a household move.
Pressure Canning for Beginners: Overcoming Fear and Starting Your First Batch
Thirty-four-minute walkthrough of pressure canning basics: water-bath vs pressure methods, altitude adjustments, equipment choice, and a full demonstration preserving chicken stock for off-grid food storage.
Cleaning the Cook Partner Stove | Overland East Field Notes
Two-minute walkthrough: maintaining and cleaning a two-burner camp stove in the field—essential gear care for reliable camp cooking.
DIY Ferrocement Water Tank: Building a 40,000-Pound Storage Tank from Farm Wire
Step-by-step ferrocement tank construction using cattle panels, chicken wire, and rebar: materials, engineering principles, and the $15 tool that cuts build time in half.
9 Ways to Cook Food During a Blackout Without Visible Signals
Nine cooking methods for blackouts that minimize smell, smoke, and light—including commercial cookers, solar ovens, chemical heaters, and pre-cooked strategies.
Canning Carrots
Step-by-step pressure canning of carrots for long-term storage, with processing times and salt ratios for both pints and quarts.
To Freeze or Not to Freeze? The Truth About Bugs in Your Wheat, Flour & Pasta
Learn whether freezing kills insect eggs in stored grains and whether it's necessary for long-term food preservation.
The Reverse Rake: Speeding Up Hay and Grass Drying
53-second demonstration of tether rake technique for faster hay and straw drying in field management, applicable to small-scale food production.
Turn Any Stream Into Drinking Water on Your Hike
One-minute walkthrough: build a portable water filtration system from a bottle, prefilter, and pump for backcountry water access.
Storm preparations and winter gardening plans
Securing a garden ahead of severe weather, then planning autumn and winter growing projects for resilience and year-round food production.
Making Soup Mixes – Dry Or Condensed
Panel discussion on dry and condensed soup mix preparation and canning methods, hosted with guest experts from Rebel Canners and ChefTech.
Global Grain Shortage Driving Food Prices Higher
Analysis of current grain-supply disruptions—South Africa production declines, Ukraine export collapse, and resulting food-price pressure on households and developing nations.
Homemade Electrolyte Drink
Five-ingredient electrolyte drink recipe using citrus, honey, and baking soda—a simple alternative to commercial sports drinks for hydration and mineral replenishment.
Five Things You Must Know About the Food Supply Right Now
How grocery freezer failures and supply-chain disruptions expose gaps in household food storage; practical steps to audit and strengthen your inventory.
How This Modular Filter Turns Into a Virus-Fighting Survival Straw
One-minute walkthrough of assembling a personal water filtration straw and the filtration stages it uses to remove pathogens.
Stockpile These: No-Bean Chili Meal in a Jar for Your Prepper Pantry
22-minute walkthrough on making homemade freeze-dried chili meals in jars: ingredient selection, layering, storage, and customization for family dietary needs.
Why You Need To Stockpile Hay Now
How drought-driven hay shortages affect livestock owners, and why on-farm hay collection and storage are critical for keeping animals fed during pasture recovery.
El Niño 2026: How Changing Winter Patterns Affect Your Region
Breakdown of El Niño's meteorological impact on North American winter conditions and what regional weather shifts mean for food security and utility needs.
What Actually Happens To Hay Before Baling?
Five-minute walkthrough of the windrow technique: how to rake and fold cut grass into uniform lines for faster drying on a homestead.
Decanting Food the Right Way: Six Steps to Extend Pantry Life
Twenty-minute walkthrough of proper decanting technique to prevent bug infiltration, moisture trapping, and information loss when transferring dry goods into storage containers.