Different areas and scenarios call for different approaches.

In a cold weather area such as Norway, where the harvest of vegetables is once a year, with a short growth season -
it is imperative to have good storage facilities and skills.

Drying, jamming, smoking and salting are all food storage activities that are vital.

I would highly recommend consulting Alan Hagan's Prudent Food Storage FAQ before you start storing foodstuffs.

It is available on the Faq's page

It is equally important to take great care when looking after your produce, protecting it from climatic enemies such as too
little water, too much water, wind, heat, cold etc. , as well as protecting your harvest from the local wildlife.
As I've previously stated in the Equipment section, all kinds of animals will be gunning for your produce.

Choose vegetables that have been _proven_ to grow in your climate.

I have one tip on food storage though -

Rodents _will_ chew their way through almost any organic ( wood etc. ) or plastic based container.

This can be remedied by covering your long term food cache with a metal mesh, preferably rust free steel.
The mesh must not be too fine, or you will have breeches of the integrity of the mesh, allowing rodents access to your food.
A small mouse can get through really tiny holes

Remember that stored food has five main enemies :

1 - Water / moisture - rotting and fungi breeding ground.
2 - Oxygen - degradation of nutrients + allows insects and fungi to live.
3 - Bugs / insects - spoils food quickly.
4 - Rodents - eat and spoil food quickly.
5 - Humans - steal your food.

Your location dictates what to do about the different threats, so study the FAQ to find the basic principles involved.
 

CAUTION : according to some studies, about 50 % of all humans have a wheat intolerance either laying dormant or as a full blown allergy .Check with an allergy doctor prior to choosing which grain to grow, or you can get yourself a nasty surprise.

Generally it is better to have a small variety of sturdy vegetables or grain growing in your field.
Potatoes, carrots, radishes and such grow virtually anywhere, but they need a good water supply,
so remember irrigation in dry areas.

They usually store for a very long time without adding preservatives, drying, jamming or other forms of treatment
( except radishes ).

If you have enough vegetables to allow a daily intake of 2/300 grams, you are a long way towards self sufficiency.

Try to grow some 'green' vegetables ( cabbage, spinach, broccoli etc. ) as well.

The best thing to do if you're planning on growing vegetables post-TEOTWAWKI, is to try out the different
vegetables / grains in your garden or even your windowsill.
This ensures that you learn what it takes to get fully grown and edible foods, and shows you what the different plants need.

There is no rule that says you can't grow more exotic or delicate vegetables / grains - just don't base your food program on it.
The key here is sturdy and trustworthy.

If you plan to plant fruit trees or berry bushes you must remember that you usually do not get any produce the first and second year, some fruit trees need even longer - depending on size / maturity.

I would highly recommend that you try to grow a few choice herbs as well.
You will be real happy to be able to 'spice up' the food some, not to mention their medicinal effects.

You should pay special attention to naturally occurring plants in your area.

From wild plants you can get :

- vitamins ( herbs and trees )
- minerals ( herbs )
- food ( herbs and trees )
- cloth color ( herbs )
- mild medicines ( and really powerful ones - but steer clear of powerful
  herbs unless you know _exactly_ what you are doing)
- fibers for cloth. ( herbs and some bushes )
- treatments for garden bugs, lice and intestinal worms. ( herbs )
- sugar ( trees )
- painkillers ( treebark and herbs )
- heart medicines ( digitalis - extremely poisonous )
- cancer medicines ( taxol - extremely poisonous )
- antibiotics ( mild ) ( herbs )
- soap ( herbs )
- paper ( herbs and wood )
- containers ( woven long grass, trees and treebark )
- bug repellent ( herbs and bushes )
- composting accelerator ( herbs )
- airfresheners ( herbs and bushes )

The Nettle - lat. Urtica.

A very good herb, or rather vegetable, is the nettle,
you know - that plant that stings/burns you when you get it contact with it.

It provides you with vitamin C, extra iron, and is used to treat quite a few illnesses.
It can be used as a pesticide against some bugs.
It can also be used for soup or stew and is highly nourishing.
To use for food you just boil it awhile to take the 'sting' out.
To use for color or as a herb you dry it.
( It is recommended to 'roll' something heavy over the freshly cut nettles to break the tiny pins containing
the irritant if you are drying it .)

It's naturally occurring almost everywhere.

The stems fibers have been know to be used to produce cloth.

You can also use it to color cloth, the British Army used nettles in WW1 to get a khaki / green camouflage color.

The soldiers of the Roman empire were known to 'whip' themselves with fresh nettles to increase blood circulation to the skin in coldweather areas - ouch.

Nettle cloth has been found in graves from the ancient Egypt.

And - as a bonus, if you have a virtual forest of nettles growing near / around your shelter, humans will try to avoid the nettles
- and thereby avoiding you in the process : )

You use the young plants for food and herb, the older ones are a bit tougher, and not as nourishing.
The older plants have courser fibers and are good for cloth that is not meant to be worn next to the skin.

It will grow anywhere.
It likes the shade and good irrigation.

Raspberries.

Another sturdy and multifunctional plant. It grows naturally almost anywhere.
You can use it to get cloth color, herb ( the leaves ), vitamins, jam and fresh berries of course.
The stems have thorns and humans will usually go around rather than through a raspberry thicket.
Dry the leaves in early summer and you have a vitamin C source throughout the winter months.
The leaves are best just before the berries appear, but if you strip a plant of it's leaves there'll be no berries : (

It likes a lot of light and depends heavily on good irrigation to produce a good crop of berries.
Plant some bushes around your shelter as soon as possible.

Strawberries - lat. Fragaria Vesca

Another plant that grows in virtually all climates.
It gives you berries, vitamins, cloth color and herbs ( leaves ).
The strawberry plant is sturdy, but requires sun and water.
Dry leaves and jam berries for winter supplies.
It also has some medicinal purposes.

CAUTION - many people are allergic to strawberries,
especially the wild species, and can have severe reactions if they ingest herbs, berries or other strawberry products.

Potatoes.

Excellent food source.

It is easy to grow potatoes and they last forever given half a chance.

The same goes for carrots, rich in carotene and other vitamin subgroups.

I wont mention any other plants specifically for now since YMMV.

Drying food is an ancient and important practice when storing food.
You dry food so that it will last longer, basically you remove water / moisture from your food
so that microorganisms and other unwanted critters don't spoil your food.

My hints and tips in this section are meant as pointers only.
I write this to show how easy it is to dry foods yourself.
You must get a book with detailed recipes and techniques before you start any serious production.
A book might cost you 10 or 20 USDollars, and is the best guarantee of good results.

It's not difficult to dry food for long term storage.
There are three 'doable' common methods of drying food :

1 - Solar / wind drying
2 - Oven drying
3 - Food dehydrators

GENERAL POINTS

Golden rule number one : CLEANLINESS

You have to keep both your hands and your equipment as clean as possible.
You sterilize all your utensils, all your containers and all workspaces.
Sterilizing can be as easy as boiling your utensils and containers and pouring boiling water over your workbench
after they have been thoroughly cleaned with proper detergents.

If you don't use clean equipment and containers you may well end up with lots of disgusting inedible fungus.

When you prepare your fish / meat / vegetables / mushrooms etc. you must make sure that no dirt / intestinal
contents and such comes in contact with the food. This is especially important with fish and meats.
This principle starts _before_ slaughter of the animal / fish, make preparations that will keep the contents
of the stomach contents of the  animal / fish away from exposed meat when you commence butchering.
Most hunters are aware of this as they have to partially butcher animals in the field.

You do _not_ wash mushrooms, this will start them rotting in no time flat, you just use a soft brush
to brush away any dirt / sand etc.

Golden rule number two : If it looks / smells bad, it usually is - throw away.

You cut of any part of any food that does not appear good, looks damaged etc.
It is better to cut of too much than too little.

When drying fish and meats you usually use large amounts of salt and / or small amounts of saltpeter.
You will get the best results with 'sea' or 'rock' salt rather than your everyday table salt, as the latter contains
'anti-caking' agents that can give some unexpected results.

Golden rule number three : Better safe than sorry.

Follow directions in recipes to the tee, throw away anything that appears slightly off, divide the finished
between multiple containers.

I strongly advice that you get a hold of one or two books on preserving food and read up now.
Most methods of drying / salting / jamming etc. can be done in an ordinary kitchen, so start practicing today.

1 - Solar / wind drying can be as simple as hanging your prepared produce out in the sun.

You must completely cover your produce with a fine nylon / metal netting to keep bugs out tho.
You might also consider making a cage around the outside of the netting to keep birds and rodents away,
as these may make holes in the netting fairly easy .
Also - keep your drying cage high, don't let it sit on the ground.

The sun and the wind will dehydrate you foods quite quickly.
Many people think that this method is dangerous, fearing that the food will be spoilt before it has a chance
to properly dry out - this is only true in humid climates and for food that's not been properly prepared.

Norway has for years been one of the biggest world wide producers of dried cod, also known as 'klippfisk' -
the main ingredients of bacalao, dog food, snacks ( no kidding : ) and 'lutefisk' ( a norwegian specialty that consists
of lye treated dried cod - methinks it tastes horrible, but some seem to enjoy it ).

The freshly caught cod is treated with salt and then hung out to dry in the sun and the wind on huge racks
or laid directly on special rock outcrops.
In the north of Norway I've seen small cages added to ordinary houses filled with fish and other stuff.
Dried fish is especially important if you have dogs, as dogs love the stuff, it's dirt cheap and easy to store.

MUSHROOMS

Dried mushrooms are easy to store and offer a good supplement to any diet.
You clean the mushrooms, run a string through the ones you want to dry and hang the mushrooms outside,
preferably somewhere where you have 'clean' air flowing and a lot of sun.
Do not hang anything to dry near sources of strong odors, as mushrooms can absorb a lot of smell,
and some smells you do not want added to your meal  ; - )

CAUTION
DO NOT eat unfamiliar mushrooms, as quite a few species are extremely poisonous.

HERBS

Herbs can also be dried hanging about somewhere with good ventilation, but not in direct sunlight.
Herbs have a tendency to loose a lot of their effect, taste and aroma if exposed to sunlight.
Another thing about herbs is that they don't like high temperatures - they loose taste and effect.

You take a bunch of herbs, tie their stems together and hang them upside down until the stems become brittle.
If the stems can be bent they're not ready.

Don't bunch too many stems / leaves together, this will cause the herbs to dry out much more slowly,
and may lead to rotting or fungus growth.

Usually you do not wash herbs with water prior to drying, as this can start rot / fungi before they dry out.
Just remove parts that have been partially eaten by bugs, look 'uncool' or discolored.

Herbs also absorb smell.

FISH and MEATS

You can dry fish and meats in drying cages - it's not dangerous IF done correctly.
Do bear in mind that drying meats and fish require a lot of attention to detail.
Buy yourself a book on preserving and follow the recipes.

Before you can dry fish and meat you must clean the pieces.
You do not under any circumstances put a piece of meat or fish under the tap and scrub away.
If you need to do this, then the piece is unsuitable for drying and should be cooked and eaten immediately.

There can be no compromise regarding cleanliness when preserving meat and fish.....none at all.

Your pieces should be well salted before you hang them to dry.
The amount of salt and other spices vary from recipe to recipe, but a rule of thumb should be that it is better
to use too much salt rather than too little.

If you find that the finished product is too salty for your tastes,
you can 'water' the salt out by putting your salt meat in _cold_ water for a few hours.
Change the water every thirty minutes to remove as much as possible of the salt..

Your pieces of meat should be thin slices of a uniform size, if you vary the size you will get
an uneven drying time which is not desirable.

You get better results by hanging the pieces rather than laying them on a rack.
Make sure that there is good ventilation, that the drying cage is at the most 'windy' location at you site.

You should not attempt solar drying in a damp / humid environment

Your meat is not dry until you can break a piece in two cleanly.
If it bends, it's not finished.

2 - Oven drying.
 

Drying stuff in your oven is easy and fast.
Most of the principles of drying are the same whether you are drying in an oven or outside in the sun.

The difference is mainly protecting you food from flies and heat.

You should not have any problems with flies tho.

A new section - CANNED FOODS ( click here to go there )

Projected progress of this section :

3 - jamming.
4 - making sugar rich fruit/berry extraction for long term beverage storage.
5 - hunting and trapping ( will have a separate page )
6 - animal husbandry, basics. ( will have separate page )