Food box

I've been ruthlessly downsizing again, struggling to land somewhere between surviving the zombie apocalypse and starvation the first week of an economic downturn.

My dear friend Bri is a constant source of inspiration in this. I want to be like him when he grows up :-)

This corresponds with some of the "structural" changes in the van, such as getting rid of all of the under bed drawers and the sterilite chest of drawers that held my clothes.

This food box is under the bunk next to the shelves behind the drivers seat. It is a more solid bed support than the large sterilite drawer that I removed, and more estheticaly (sp?) pleasing. It serves dual purpose as a seat in camp or a footstool in front of my turned around passenger seat/recliner.

Contents of the box are trail mix, couscous, lentils, dried berries,fruits, eggs and veggies, bouillon, instant soups, foil packed salmon, seaweed, rice noodles, oatmeal, nuts,and honey. I keep a Ziplock bag of single serve packets that I harvest in my travels.

Under my bunk I have extra water, some canned goods, and zip lock giveaway bags. More on them later.

The last sort of foodstuffs I keep under the bunk are a small selection of foods good if you are sick, think the BRAT diet recommended by pediatricians which consists of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. For long term storage of these items ( to have available when you are too sick or too far out to get to a grocery store) I keep puréed bananas (found in the baby food isle) along with puréed rice and banana combo, instant rice packets, single serve applesauce and jello, and crackers. Ginger ale completes the menu. A few servings of each doesn't take much room and has come in very handy for both mutt and I in our travels.

Would love some feedback as to ideas or suggestions I haven't thought of....

Volunteer forage!

Oh, I am so excited! I have not been keeping up with the lawn and trimming around the house, and look what grew! Purslane! I love this stuff. Last year cousin Julie, farmer extraordinaire, brought me some purslane from her farm. I grew it in a pot, but never got around to transplanting any. Apparently, this succulent plant has a strong will to produce. My uncle Jim (Julie's dad) called unexpected garden plants "volunteers".

I have planted some pots with purslane and miner's lettuce seeds, but they are not ready yet. Looks like I'll have some for supper anyway. This salad will have raspberries from behind the house, too.

Soon I'll post pics of the containers I'm growing for my portable hitch haul garden.

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/weedsdiseases/a/purslane.htm

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Purslane.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea

Vandwellers GTG yahoo group

There is a yahoo group geared specifically as a resource for calendar listings of Vandweller Get ToGethers. I recommend joining up and listing your gatherings, posting your hopes of having one, or to keep track of where they are happening.

Check it out:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VANDWELLERS_GTG/?yguid=458918990

Favorite tents

I was able to find a couple shots of some of the favorite lean-tos and a tents I have owned. Can't post pics directly on the Cheaprvliving forum, so have to stick them here.

The brown one is a 10x10 oilskin diamond fly. I traded that one for a 7x7 oilskin, which was pre-dog, and clearly a mistake :-). Under the 7x7, in the rain, jockeying with Mutt for dry real estate.... Well let's just say it sucks being me.

The one with the goofy dog (mookie) is a big sun forger canvas tent fly. Forget the size, but it's big. With a couple of poles, I can configure it multiethnic ways, including a half- tipi sort of thing, as pictured with me and the little kid.

The last is a great long term camp, a 10x10 single pole hunters tent with an a-frame fly. Not a good spike camp, cause of all the poles necessary for the fly.

For long term living, I'd choose a 12x12 hunters tent with double tipi doors and a stove pipe hole.

What's out your window?

Remember the commercial for the credit card that asked "what's in your wallet?" Well, ever since getting rid of the cards in my wallet, I am free to have more views like this out my window. The view changes every day, and there's no annual fees....the only interest is in my mind and heart. Stuff just does not compare.

Uses for 2 liter bottles

Got this idea off of Pinterest. So far I've got red and brown lentils, navy beans and sunflower seeds in mine.

Here is the link to the original blog:

http://www.earthineer.com/content.php?blogid=1574

What other ideas do you have?