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| Not enough here for the Zombie Apocalypse (aka Trump Presidency). Makes me nervous. |
So one of the first things I learned at the winery was the concept of FIFO, or first in, first out. It's important with wine because wine that's sitting in a 75-degree tasting room is not being kept in its optimal conditions, so it's important to move through the stock in a way that has the wine sitting inside the winery itself, behind the bar, for the minimum number of days.
It's also important when you can and preserve, which is why most of us date all our canned goods and go to the oldest ones first when using supplies.
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| But at least there will be food and wine.... |
But Big Ag and I are not always successful in doing this with everything here at the homestead. We are currently are using pellets for the pellet stove that are two seasons old...basically when we got a new pallet each fall we just stuck the new bags on top of the old ones, and used those first.
So right now we're burning wood from the bottom of the pile, or fall of 2013. And we're going to take our stores down to nothing before buying a new pallet. Our wood pellet use is clearly anti-FIFO. It's FOFO, so we're fixing that, because FOFO may be F-U if the pellets don't hold up well with age.
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| with various canned accoutrements. |
But every time I look at that dwindling pile I get nervous. I love to be stocked up on supplies and goods, especially in wintertime. Basically, I want to be the family dining on delicious foods, staying warm and enjoying fine wine whilst shooting zombies off the back porch.
What about you? Are you a stock-up kind of person, or do you have enough faith to know if you're low on something the stores are just a short drive away?
Oh I am a major stock-upper. And you're right, we all better be stocking up in case Trump is elected! Haha. So I have a very janky but effective method for ensuring FIFO is carried out. With a sharpie, I write the purchase date of canned things right on the top. Obviously I like to keep them arranged in a FIFO order, but that doesn't always work if I'm unloading from the grocery in a hurry. I think for people like us who are the ones called on to feed in cases of power outages, bad moods, snowstorms, mudslides, and hangovers it just makes sense to have a healthy inventory going at home.
ReplyDeleteAmen and Amen. Good idea on the sharpie thing, too, I do it with my own preserves but not the cans I buy. And sometimes those printed expiration dates fade quickly and aren't as readable a year on.
DeleteAnother stocker-upper here, of sorts. I spent a good deal of time canning and freezing summer veggies, I buy some staples in bulk, and I do what I can to organize it all to use it FIFO. Sometimes things slip past me, but it's mostly a decent system.
ReplyDeleteRight now, the basement pantry and the spare freezer are jammed with good stuff ... which should last till veggies come again next summer. Feels good to be well stocked.
There is no better feeling than having a stocked freezer and pantry, agreed! In the 1800's spring was called "starving time" because people ran out of their stored up food. Sounds like you'll be in good shape though! (BTW your post went double so I removed the duplicate, hope you don't mind.) : )
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