Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

Hello everyone. Haven't posted for a while but I have kept up with you all My stores are going to be going down a little as we have a couple of unexpected costs to cover. So I'll be getting creative with the lentils, couscous, bulgar wheat, pasta etc. As soon as the costs have been covered I'll restock again.

We have had a great crop of potatoes this year and will be able to get quite a lot into store again this winter. Same with the garlic. I'm fighting an uphill battle with the cabbage white caterpillars, but we are getting one or two greyhound cabbages in now. Beans and peas are also doing well. A lot of things are going straight to seed. I have this week off work so I'm going to re-sow things to see if they do better in the autumn. The crops in the garden are saving us a fortune so I'm hoping that I can extend the time we have food from our land this year.

We had a power cut yesterday. Only for an hour or so, but we were well prepared with lamps, including some solar ones. The cut happened as the evening meal was three-quarters cooked. I just left everything in the oven for longer and didn't open the door until 10 minutes after the original finish time. Everything was cooked to perfection. We have bottled gas for the hob, but have an electric oven. I could have finished things off on the hob if the cut had happened earlier.

pineapple

[Deleted User] wrote:

I just left everything in the oven for longer and didn't open the door until 10 minutes after the original finish time. Everything was cooked to perfection.

There's a lesson for us in here somewhere... :staradmin

homesteadchick

So, every first time is difficult they say.

I've 'harvested' the first of our meat-bred rabbits today.

Oppurtunity knocked so to speak and although a little small at 8 weeks old, I decided I had to do it now, or I might loose my nerve altogether and be stuck with an enormous amount of pet rabbits...

So kids were all occupied and not likely to walk in, so that gave me a good window of time to get on with it.

I felt a bit shaky I must admit. I"ve done chickens before, but they are not nearly as 'cute' as the rabbits.
But I did it, it was clean and quick. The rabbit never knew what happened.

I'm really glad I did lots of research first, so it all went smoothly.

The meat is now soaking in some salty water. It will be eaten in tomorrow's meat pie.
The skin is also in salt water (a different pot!:eek:) and I will cure it. Hopefully with the other young'uns following soon, I can make a fabulously warm winter hat.

Still feeling a little bit shaky, but proud of myself for having done a good, swift job. And proud for teaching myself another skill in being self sufficient.

[Deleted User]

HOMESTEADCHICK be very proud of yourself, you have a courage that most people lack and a resolve that didn't falter! Hats off for being able to cope with not only the killing but the dealing with of every part of the rabbit. It is why they were bred and it does them honour that they serve the purpose for which they exist in the first place. You are a true prepper, thank you for sharing that fact with us, with utmost respect, Lyn xxx.

pineapple

Nothing to do with prepping (unless one lands on your head :eek:) but watch out for the Perseids meteor shower tonight.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/perseids-meteor-shower-clear-skies-predicted-for-tonights-spectacular-firework-display-8756491.html

pineapple

homesteadchick wrote: »

Still feeling a little bit shaky, but proud of myself for having done a good, swift job. And proud for teaching myself another skill in being self sufficient.

Well done to you! :T

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

Not going to risk a smilie as haven't been able to post with them since Saturday. Poor me, I do so love a smilie.......

homesteadchick, well done for learning to do the deed, and doing it well. I'm a meat-eater but not a meat-raiser, but I think taking ownership of your diet and being prepared to do the "squeamish" bits is honest and decent.

Can I ask which breed of rabbits you are raising for the pot? My grandad used to raise New Zealand Whites here in England, I think that's the commonest meat bunny? On Wiki it says that they're ready for a "fryer" at 8 weeks but older for other recipes.

I'm a bit ?? as wouln't have thought bunnies fried particularly well as they're quite a lean meat, but I'm no gour-may so it's probably me being ignorant.

The great-grandad on the other side (Dad's grandad) had a smallholding and used to buy in piglets and raise them to market weight, keeping back one for the household. They were professionally slaughtered and Dad recalls hanging out with GGD on the smallholding. He was very fond of the pigs, looked after them well, but didn't shrink to eat them.

Dad's worked with pigs as well on a farm and I have petted a humoungous Saddleback sow who rolled over at my feet and wanted her tummy rubbed. Something that size and weight making like a puppy-dawg is a touch disconcerting......

Mum's Mum was a proper countrywoman who wore her hair in a bun and a cross-body floral pinny and raised chickens for eggs to sell. One year she bought in 6 goslings to fatten for Christmas; 5 to sell and one for the household.

Well, they became pets, didn't they? The five went off to market all right but the other one was spared the invitation to Christmas dinner and lived for years.

For people with a bit of land, a small flock of free-range geese make very good intruder alarms. They're liable to go for interlopers with necks extended and hissing like crazy. This isn't received well by villians, apparently.

Went into T0sspots after work and added some more peas to the stash and a jar of peanut butter. PNB is excellent stuff, very calorie dense, which is what you'd want in a crisis. They were out of the Basics porridge oats so I hope they have some tomorrow because I only have 8 months' supply when I like to have 12 months' worth in.

After someone mentioned Hurricane Katrina on here a couple of days ago I decided to go to the library and get some books out about it. I know exactly where I was when it happened (Outer Hebrides) but I want to know more detail.

The what, when and whyfores. I believe that most of the trouble was caused after the hurricane, not actually by it, as a result of the (in)actions of the authorities. Whilst I realise that we in the UK are not subject to the National Guard and to FEMA, we are all human beings and there may be something to extrapolate across into the probable outcomes of a catastophe here. If nothing else, they will be educational reads. They're big books so I will be chowing down on the detail for some time.

Hokay, time for tea then to secrete the box of tinned peas in it's hidey-hole. Considering I'm a nutcase, there's surprisingly little evidence on the premises but if this place were to be subject to a detailed search, people would be very surprised indeedy.

Laters, GQ xxx

ginnyknit

Well done Homesteadchick, all that fab meat and you know exactly what has gone into it.

Well done Pinkthrift for being ready for a powercut. I will have to save up for the solar lamps, I think they would be quite satisfying having light for free.

Met a friend today who has always lived like us, scrimping and scraping. She used to let us use her caravan during term time as long as I looked after her many pets during school hols and we had some wonderful free holidays there. However her husband has been messed about so much with work that they are broke. His firm has sent him working in Leeds so he has a lousy travel everyday and huge fuel costs. Its a damn shame when you work hard and at a time when they should be enjoying themselves now the kids have grown and flown. It seems the harder you work the worse off you become.

metherer

Evening all.

Just a quick post from me tonight, as nothing much to report.
Dehydrated a couple of small squashes at the weekend, as I worry that we rely on the freezer too much. Also made a couple of pots of fruit spread (aka jam that didn't set properly) so they have gone into the cupboard.

I get some money in tomorrow, so I'm going to be looking for decent prices on fire blankets and extinguishers. Can anyone recommend anywhere?

And Greyqueen, thanks for that link. Interesting reading.

GreyQueen

Glad you found Zero Hedge interesting, metherer. It is the wilder shores of financial news and I don't pretend to understand all that I read on there, but it's cutting edge stuff and they're often breaking non-financial news a few hours before it hits the mainstream media, too. I like it that most of their editors operate under the group nom de plume of Tyler Durden of Fight Club........no one knows how many Tylers there are or where exactly or who exactly they are, but they're nothing if not busy little bees.

Worth a little of any tin-hatter's time, IMO.

I once made fruit spread, too, didn't get enough pectin in the mix. It was just fine although I kept mine in the fridge, can't recall if that was necessity or to keep it away from the wasps, it was an awful long time ago. Tasted good enough.

Hokay, tinned peas are stashed in a darling storage basket. As I look around my bijou flatlet, there are lots of containers which are not holding at all the sorts of things which one would expect to find in them. What's the saying; we're only 9 meals from anarchy?

I'm only about 9 months from hunger but I wouldn't wish anarchy on any body. Or hunger, come to think of it.

Hokay, got to go and make another cuppa. Keep on prepping.