Goodbye To Fruit Salad

With the demise of cheap fuels, we can expect to say goodbye to the large variety of tropical fruits that we now enjoy. The price of shipping will make them unaffordable. My favorite fruit happens to be Oranges. I just about cry when I consider that in the future their wonderful taste may be just a memory.

So, I have been buying fresh oranges whenever possible and pigging out on them. Same with orange juice. Yeah, I buy the cheap SunnyD but it goes down good on a hot day.

Hmmm, Think I will freeze some into cubes and store them in freezer bags for later in the summer when the heat is screaming for a 'cool me down but not beer' drink. (did I really just say that? not beer?) Toss a couple of cubes into a tall glass of really cold Ice Tea and start sippin.

Ahhh.... sounds good.

Sure, you can buy the frozen concentrate, but realistically, in a possible grid down SHTF you would not want all that stored frozen food to be ruined. You can buy fruit cocktail in a can and store it when possible, but what about Oranges? I don’t recall seeing regular (not Mandarin) canned oranges. Fresh or juice concentrate is the only choice.

Except…

How to Can Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines and Other Citrus at Home - Free, Easy, Illustrated Directions!

Woohoo! Do it yourself canning instructions for citrus. Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Tangerines, Grapefruit; all of your favorite, scarce after SHTF citrus, in a jar, on a shelf, in your root cellar (with the cheapo air filtration system of course!).

I will be looking for fruit on sale and will be purchasing and processing. Peaches, Apricots and Nectarines are other fruit that don’t grow well in some northern climates. Canned isn’t as good as fresh but it sure beats not having it at all.

For those of you who are using an incremental purchasing plan, add 1 package ea. regular and wide mouth canning lids per grocery day. Stock up if possible come canning season; jars, lids and extra rings. These will become non-existant except in manufacturer's shipping warehouses when TSHTF. If you can't use them yourself you will be able to barter them for food later.

Happy Canning!

P.S. Gas just hit $3.95 a gallon yesterday.

Get your ropes ready.

13 knots...