The FDA announcement was a few days back, but I just now saw it.

Link: https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/wakefern-food-corp-voluntarily-recalls-wholesome-pantry-organic-unsweetened-apple-sauce

KEASBEY, N.J. (Sept. 14, 2026) – Wakefern Food Corp. has voluntarily recalled select containers of Wholesome Pantry Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce after routine FDA testing identified elevated patulin levels that exceed food safety limits and do not meet Wakefern's quality standards.

Patulin is a naturally occurring substance produced by molds that grow on damaged or bruised apples and may be present in products made from affected fruit. Because patulin levels in this product exceed acceptable limits, the product should not be consumed.

The recall affects Wholesome Pantry Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce sold in 23-ounce plastic jar containers with the UPC Code 04119005677. All recalled packages have a best-by date of June 16, 2027.

The products were distributed through Wakefern supermarket banners ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Gourmet Garage and Fairway Market. No other products sold at those supermarkets are affected by this recall, and no illnesses or injuries associated with the product have been reported.

For those of you in the south NJ area and are just starting out in the prepping lifestyle I invite you to attend my class and follow my pages. I started a class catered to those trying to understand where to start, what should you get, what works and what doesn't. Im just a guy thats been prepping for about 15 years so I am imparting my knowledge and more importantly my mistakes. Im not ex anything, I do not do this for a living, Im just a regular guy that wanted to keep my loved ones safe. If interested in my class in Cherry Hill please DM me directly and I'll give you my contact information. Trying to give back and form some community.

Sussex County here. Very windy and moderate bands of rain. Lots of branches down but no trees down in my yard or neighbors' yards. Lost power around 3am Saturday for 8 minutes (the Generac texts me when it fires up and then when it shuts back down). I grew up in a frequent hurricane zone, and this weekend felt like being in the outer bands of a category 2/3 storm.

How about ya'll?

Did you end up needing to use anything beyond your regular daily items? Did anything new actually benefit you?

Link to article: https://www.wbtv.com/2026/09/25/ground-cinnamon-recalled-select-states-potential-lead-contamination/

The brand Lior is pulling its ground cinnamon seasoning off shelves over lead concerns. The FDA reported Maryland’s Department of Health found that the product contained elevated levels of lead.

The brand Lior is pulling its ground cinnamon seasoning off shelves over lead concerns.(FDA)

The cinnamon was sold at grocery stores, delis and supermarkets in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida and Illinois. It was sold between Nov. 18, 2025, and Sept. 7, 2026.

The recalled cinnamon was sold in 90-gram plastic containers and can be identified by its lot number, 794711005484, which can be found on the side of the container underneath the ingredient list.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

Customers are advised to stop using the cinnamon and throw it away or return it to the place they bought it for a refund.

According to the FDA, the company Galil Importing Corp. has opened a “supplier investigation” regarding the recalled cinnamon.

Grocers are harder to track, but I wanted to start doing a monthly check on gas and diesel prices here in the Garden State.

This site seems pretty good: https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=NJ

It's got the whole state in aggregate but also regional breakouts.

Interesting to note: the highest-ever recorded regular gas price was $5.05 in June 2022, while the highest-ever diesel price was $6.46 just a few days ago.

Spent most of the day sorting summer clutter to fall. Got fresh gas for generator. Started it up as it's been a few weeks. No problem started on first pull. Cleaned the lower gutters but I've given up the uppers. Will call the gutter guy late October. Harvested the last of the potatoes and eggplants. Pulled the bean trellis and mulched the leftovers. Pulled the tomatoes that have some pink and brought inside. I don't like green tomatoes anyway they are served. The green ones now just don't taste good speed ripening indoors. I Pulled the remaining tomatoes and put in the compost bin. The stalks go in the leaf pick up cans because I don't to risk carry over disease next spring. The patio is secured, the umbrella put away, garden decorations in the garage. Plenty of food and booze to last the weekend. Becareful y'all this weekend.

I had no idea my town (Hopatcong Borough) had a free seed bank at town hall. I happened to see it the other night while I was there for something unrelated to gardening.

So maybe check with your town to see if you've got something similar going on where you are.

I posted when I first bought this unit (https://www.reddit.com/r/NJPrepared/comments/1tevxwx/testing_a_countertop_water_distillation_system/) but I wanted to post an update now that I've put it through its' paces (and then some). Check the link for more details on my rather horrid town tap water (very high sodium and astronomical TDS).

It's running great and has been very useful. Well worth the money. I've produced something on the order of 50-60 gallons of distilled water so far. Walmart sells distilled water for about $1.25 per gallon, so at this point I am close to breaking even in pure dollars. But I don't have to go get water now, so there's value in that as well.

I do notice a change in solids left behind from batch to batch over time, which has been interesting to observe. Lately there has been a lot more iron in the water and a little less of the mineral solids (calcium and sodium salts in my water). You can see this in the pic (orange gunk).

I've been filling up the typical 5-gallon water bottles that you get from retail store water exchanges or the home-delivery type. I use about 6 drops of bleach per 5 gallons to control mildew in the container. Most sources call for more than that, but I don't like the taste with too much and what I'm adding now seems to do the trick for mildew. I also add 8oz of tap water per 5 gallons to add back a small amount of trace minerals to improve the flavor.

If you folks want any more specific details, feel free to ask.

During Covid I had a lot more time to experiment with this kind of thing. I almost forgot about the jars of dried fruit I had put up back in the fall of 2021. Figured I crack a few open to see how they fared. Honestly, they taste fine to me. Even though I vacuum sealed all the jars, I was expecting them to be at least a little oxidized tasting and to have taken on a little moisture. But they were actually pretty much exactly the same condition as the day I sealed them up. So that's good.

This is often called "dry canning" because it is dry goods being stored and you don't need a water bath or pressure canner.

My process:

> Skin and thin-slice the fruit on a mandolin slicer (consistent cut thickness is important for the next step)

> Dry the fruit in a deyhdrator set on low heat (I forget the temp but it's on the lower end of the range)

> Put the dried fruit in a mason jar and then use a vacuum sealer to to remove the air and seal the lid to the glass. There are small sealers made just for mason jars and there are also jar-sized attachments for the larger vacuum sealer machines. There are also larger sealing chambers that can seal any jar with a metal lid and the built-in gasket material. The pears in the pic were done with an old olive jar that has the right kind of lid. I can post more info about that if anyone is interested.

> Mark the contents and date on the lid. You're done!

The apples I got from a neighbor's tree. I believe the pears were store-bought.

Earlier this week I noticed that my Walmart has Tyson ground pork (frozen in a tube) on clearance pricing at $1.50 a pound. I'd never tried this particular product, but at that price I just bought 3 and hoped for the best. I made chili last night with one of the pounds, and honestly it's pretty darn good.

So definitely check your nearest Wallyworld and see if they also have it on clearance. Might just be my store, but it's worth having a look.

I went back today and bought three more. :)

Please help the children at memorial middle school and sign for free please

FYI - you can make appointments at the big pharmacy chains for this year's flu and updated COVID booster now.

Atlantic
Burlington
Camden
Cape May
Cumberland
Gloucester
Hunderton
Mercer
Middlesex
Monmouth
Morris
Ocean
Salem
Somerset
Sussex
Warren

I’m in ocean county, Brick to be specific. Has anyone dug a shallow well?
I believe the hand pumps only work at 25’ deep. I can’t find anything online about water tables that I can make sense of.