Preparedness for when

betterlife

Hi craigywv , i would love to grow more fruit and veg, we grow rhubarb, blueberries and gooseberries (when the little green caterpillars dont get our goosberries) and there are a few local walks around here where we can pick apples and blackberries, hazel nuts and chestnuts. ive grown veg in the past, but if im honest get a bit bored, i start with very good intentions in the new year, but by late spring early summer it get neglected, so must try harder!
Hard Up Hester we dont get snowed in, but we live on a hill and when we get bad ice we can be house bound for a few days, so this year ive stocked up on long life milk aswell, we go through about 7-8pts a day so freezing is not really an option, i dont often make bread but keep bread flour just incase, i cook from scratch and have freezers full of stews etc. we are hoping to move after xmas, somewhere a little more suitable for our needs, my husband would like to be a bit closer to shooting areas should we ever be without a car. at the moment i prep purely for temp situations but i have been thinking more about a long time goal, for both a simpler life (ie have less material things, work just to get by) and if our economy collapses. x

jk0

Evening folks,

I am considering getting myself a bread maker, but know very little about them.

Has anyone any suggestion for which model a total novice should buy?

Hard_Up_Hester

I've had a few different ones but found the Panasonic ones to be the best.
Hester

betterlife

i had one ages ago, and loved waking up to the smell of fresh bread in the morning, but it drove me nuts having a hole in the bottom of the bread from the hook! (do they all do that?) so when i make it i do it by hand, its not too hard, i like cooking it in a round cake tin with removable bottom, dont make it much at the moment, but i did see you can make it in the slower cooker (fb slow cooker recipe page) i think there are tread in os board about bread makers x

Perplexed_Pineapple

jk0 wrote: »

Evening folks,

I am considering getting myself a bread maker, but know very little about them.

Has anyone any suggestion for which model a total novice should buy?

jk0, the panasonic ones are widely thought to be very good. We had a Breville model, was very good but after almost daily use for several years a vital part gave out. We've replaced with one of these:
www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SD-2501-Automatic-Breadmaker-Dispenser/dp/B004RTJWMW/
which seems to be good after trying a cheaper brand (well it was free as it happens from a friend ) which wasn't so good. If you think you will be using it a lot it's worth investing in a good one IMO, but if you aren't sure then breadmakers turn up quite often on freecyle and at boot sales I think.
Glad to hear everyone has come through the storms more or less unscathed - seems to have been a bit of a damp squib overall though not for the unfortunate few for whom TS did HTF.
PS that Panasonic one was cheaper when we bought it quite recently - under a hundred I think

jk0

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

jk0, the panasonic ones are widely thought to be very good. We had a Breville model, was very good but after almost daily use for several years a vital part gave out. We've replaced with one of these:
www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SD-2501-Automatic-Breadmaker-Dispenser/dp/B004RTJWMW/
which seems to be good after trying a cheaper brand (well it was free as it happens from a friend ) which wasn't so good. If you think you will be using it a lot it's worth investing in a good one IMO, but if you aren't sure then breadmakers turn up quite often on freecyle and at boot sales I think.
Glad to hear everyone has come through the storms more or less unscathed - seems to have been a bit of a damp squib overall though not for the unfortunate few for whom TS did HTF.
PS that Panasonic one was cheaper when we bought it quite recently - under a hundred I think

Thanks PP. I have ordered one of those.

homesteadchick

betterlife wrote: »

Hi everyone, im quite new to prepping, so was wondering if i could ask some questions please?
i know you are prepping for when the shtf, but what is that for you? is it for rocketing food prices, loss of jobs, economy collapse? and do you just prep as in buying stuff for store cupboard etc or are you trying to become more self-sufficient?
i always keep my store cupboards and freezer quite well stocked, this is mainly because i have quite a big family and like to be prepared for illness, short on money etc, my husband is into deer management so we have a rifle, and we have recently bought an air rifle which im a pretty good shot even if i do say so myself lol, i target practice regularly in my garden and we are also teaching the children, we often have a deer in the freezer and can get rabbits etc aswell, i am also happy to skin and butcher the meat, so in this aspect we can be quite self-sufficient. my husband is also a fisherman, and we have knowledge there aswell. x

I prep because I just love self suffientcy. I have lost trust in the food industry, I think it is absurd that we eat food that's been flown in from all over the world, and I hate the consumerism attitude.
I think the economic system as we now know it will get much worse, and so I prep skills.

I keep chickens, I grown vegetables and fruit, and I raise rabbits for meat. I can slaughter and process rabbits, so I'm pretty confident I can handle other animals as well.

Next on my list is either an air rifle or a handbow and learn how to use that. But at this point in time, I simply can't afford it. Too bad huh?

Welcome to the tread anyway. :T

vanoonoo

morning all - I hope you are all ok and have dry feet x

greenbee

Finally got power back at 11pm yesterday after about 18 hours without it. As I've recently moved house, it is NOT warm and cosy here (hardly any curtains up, concrete floors downstairs, very few stocks as kitchen in bits etc. However, I'd finally managed to get the garage shelves up and the last of the boxes unpacked, so we'd brought in lanterns, located tea-lights and candles (turned out they were in the bathroom), rounded up the last of the logs (delivery due next weekend once we have space), found some coal and dug out the camping stove we've got for when the rest of the kitchen gets ripped out.

It was VERY windy here, and there are 5 HUGE trees to the west of the house (not very clever) which are due to come out in a fortnight... They only lost a couple of branches, and my neighbour lost some fence panels into my garden. We also have an shared sewage system which runs on electricity, but with no one having baths/showers or using WM/DW we think it should be OK!

I couldn't work without electricity, so we did go out a couple of times to sit in the warm - once to the next town and once to the Sustainability Centre (I think Mrs LW might know it... the cake is yummy!), but all the hanging around and waiting by the phone got a bit tedious and cold (no mobile reception here on the two networks we use).

Still, most of my neighbours had minimal damage, the elderly ones are all fine, and those with unsuitable trees (ones that should be in woods or fields not gardens) are now a bit more aware of the problem. I certainly don't expect any complaints when mine come down!

[Deleted User]

Hi GREENBEE glad you're ok after that horrible weather, it sounds like you were extremely organised and weathered it well. Glad you've made your housemove and are getting settled in to your new home. I do indeed know the Sustainability Centre, it's such a lovely place if you're into alternative living isn't it? I love thier bookstore, they always have such interesting things but most of all I love the people who run the place, they are lovely aren't they? Lyn xxx.