Small Space Dry Food Storage

Don’t think you have any room for storing pantry items?  Well, take’a look at this then:

This fold-up baker’s rack measures only 21” wide x 48” high x 15” deep and is in one of those “dead” spaces in my kitchen.  If we were really ambitious I suppose we could make permanent shelving in this area and double the shelf space.  Another thing to put on the list.

Anyways, on this small rack in the kitchen with a footprint measuring less than 2 ½ feet, I have the following items:

Lentils, Spaghetti, Macaroni, Barley, Brown Rice, White Rice, Split Peas, Pinto Beans, Great Northern Beans, Popcorn, Black Turtle Beans, Malt-o-Meal and Oatmeal.  I’d guess that there is about forty pounds of foodstuffs there.

There are also various jars containing Alfalfa & Mung beans for sprouting, Flax seeds, Poppy seeds, Hot Cocoa mix and a few spices and a small basket of sweet potatoes and onions.  There’s still room for a few more containers.

I did splurge and buy the large glass jars at the dollar store, but the smaller jars are recycled condiment or jelly jars (paint the lids with spray enamel and they look fancier) and canning jars.  Having your dry storage items in a sealed container is a must to keep your foods pest-free.  I’ve heard that many people will put a bay leaf or two in their long term dry storage items although I haven’t done that yet. 

Speaking of things not being done yet, I should probably get off the computer and haul some warm water to the goats & chickens.  We had some ice earlier this morning & a few inches of snow on top of that since. 

Goats?  What goats?

Looking out the window I’ll usually see the goats staring back at me, but all I see is an empty goat yard and the goat barn.  Not only do my goats hate “acid” rain, but apparently snow is also radioactive as they are either under or inside the barn in an attempt to avoid touching any of the white stuff.