Preparedness for when

siegemode

Hi,
Have some catching up to do, but just watched a thought provoking film and wanted to share as it falls within the possible shtf events.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/dirty_war

OH found it on you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Husw6T7rlo

Off to catch up now.

GreyQueen

Hollyberry wrote: »

While I was reading blogs earlier, I saw this and thought I'd drop in the link to one of the US bloggers who talks about dealing with unexpected emergencies: http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/surviving-unexpected-emergency/. Some interesting points in the article about where you store things that could be at risk if you are flooded - too late for this week, but maybe worth thinking about for the future.

Thanks for that link, Hollyberry. I have that site bookmarked but hadn't seen that one yet.

Have also seen accounts of at least two other blogs of preppers who lost supplies due to disasters; a family man who was burned out of the home and suffered total loss, and a lady who had a flood in her basement where all her preps were stored................arrgghhhh!

When I wrack my brains, I can think of only one pal with a cellar and know of no family members who have them either, but they seem to be commonplace and a favoured storage place for our American cousins. If anyone can recall the original series of Survivors, where the rain overflows and goes down into the cellar of that stately home where they are storing their supplies?

I guess the lesson is to think about the potential for water ingress and also not to have all your eggs in one basket. I have a metal storage rack bolted to the back wall of my bike shed, but the lowest shelf is stuff which wouldn't take any particular harm from a soaking, whereas the tins and the bottled water are anything from 3-5 feet above ground level. The t.p. is on a separate high shelf above head-height.

Have had a pretastic day wrangling with blunt instruments on the lottie and have been to a few chazzers. I found a copy of Self Reliance by John Yeoman for 25p, plus several plastic funnels and another L0ck&L0ck container, the whole lot coming it at less than £2.

Funnels are great to aid the speedier refilling of water containers and in event of a sewer-down situation, I would designate one to the bathroom for piddling into a bottle (sorry if that's TMI but cat litter is OK for number two's but there'd be a lot more pee than poo and us ladies aren't anatomically suited to going into bottles).

Besides, the nitrogen in urine is a useful plant fertiliser, although male urine is reckoned superior to female urine.............Apparently, the life cycles of a lot of plants are dependant on mammal urine for their nutrients. Soooo, if anyone accuses you of taking the p*ss - take it as a compliment.

Hollyberry

GQ - I think we're reading the same blogs. Felt so sorry for the guy who lost his preps in a fire after they had tried so hard to make a new start.

I have a cellar, but have never thought of storing anything there even though it is dry. Firstly the cellar steps are brick and very uneven, so I think the potential for me descending against my will is considerable, and I don't imagine the result would be pretty. Secondly, we hardly ever go down there, and I think we would forget to check on what we had stored.

I've been doing some research today on what I might try and grow in the garden next year. We have had a veggie patch for a while, although it's not been mine to look after, so the soil is in good condition. Already productive are apples, greengages, gooseberries, walnuts and rhubarb. We've had potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, tomatoes and runner beans before, so those are possibilities. I will head over to the greenfingered board for inspiration, but wondered if any of you had recommendations for the novice gardener. I'm not renowned for my ability with house plants, but I can dig a mean trench!

[Deleted User]

Hollyberry wrote: »

Some interesting points in the article about where you store things that could be at risk if you are flooded

Thankfully, flooding is the one thing I don't need to prep for.

Being snowed in, but not flooding.

[Deleted User]

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On Amazon.com it is $23.12 and, if you include something else to get the order over £35, shipping is free.

GreyQueen

Hollyberry wrote: »

I've been doing some research today on what I might try and grow in the garden next year. We have had a veggie patch for a while, although it's not been mine to look after, so the soil is in good condition. Already productive are apples, greengages, gooseberries, walnuts and rhubarb. We've had potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, tomatoes and runner beans before, so those are possibilities. I will head over to the greenfingered board for inspiration, but wondered if any of you had recommendations for the novice gardener. I'm not renowned for my ability with house plants, but I can dig a mean trench!

I think the best way to approach it is backwards; what do you like to eat? And of your likes, what is expensive? Or hard to get in good condition (runner beans are a classic case of the latter).

Spuds take up a lot of room but are incredibly productive. However, if space is tight, it might make better sense to grow other things and buy a sack or three from the roadside stall/ farm shop.

I avoid the whole family of brassicas, f'rinstance. It's not that I have a hate on this class of veggies, it's just that the logistics of growing them would be ridiculous - and I know because I've tried. I would have to produce a cage which was strong enough to withstand the attentions of the woodpigeons and cover it with a fine enough mesh to keep off the cabbage white butterflies.

Oh, and it would also need to be movable (for crop rotation) and strong enough to resist the high winds my lottie is exposed to, winter and summer alike. As well as being a PITA, all the above criteria would be expensive. Cabbages aren't that dear, and although I adore PSB, I vowed I wouldn't grow it again due to the construction work involved in covering plants that big.........

Do you want to have a heavy crop of HG veggies and fruit from mids-summer to autumn, or would you like things to be more evenly distributed and have standing crop to be harvested over-winter?

I'd make the following suggestions; leeks, premium alliums (such as shallots, spring onions, red onions, garlic - all of which cost more than plain white onions but are no harder to grow). Beans of all types and their cousins the peas. Great use of vertical space.

You can get raspberry varieties which fruit in summer, and ones which fruit in autumn, so a bit of clever selection and you have several months of this delicious fruits. How about a blackcurrant bush and/ or redcurrants? Heaps of nutrients in there and negligible effort to look after.

Beetroots are very good for you and grow easily most years, and carrots have varieties which are ready at different times - I lifted some Autumn King carrots today.

Parsnips are great, with lots of applications in soups, roasted, mashed, dried as crisps, and can be kept in the ground. A good frost really brings out the sweetness. If you have plenty of space, esp if an old muck heap is available, then pumpkins are great fun and appeal to children of all ages - a 70 y.o. farmer friend was chortling about the pumpkin crop he had as excitedly as a 5 y.o. to me only days ago........:rotfl:

Really, the only thing to do is experiment and see what happens. Not all patches of ground will grow all things equally well. Last frosts are in different times in different places, microclimates and wind tunnels exist. Most crops detest too much wind, it really reduces the yield. Which is why runner beans are better on a rigid support like a stick than billowing around on a string.

Oh, and I've forgotten salad greens and herbs. Very useful ways of upping your tastiness without injuring the grocery bill.

I should stress I'm a relative noob; have only been gardening about 47 years, toddler, girl and woman, and there's shedloads which I don't know and will probably never find out. HTH.

Pollyjuice

Hi Solomon_Broad, I would highly recommend reading the whole thread. There are a lot of little gems in here which can make you rofl, and the occasional spraying of the keyboard with various liquids. It has opened my eyes to bigger events such as the financial situation in Greece which I followed with great interest when 2tonsils lived there.

We personally have not been effected by these storms and am very grateful for that. Just a little wind damage.

What does concern me is that the Banks are having technical problems more frequently, and today the whole of the UK effected by the technical problems at the air ports, it brings home the way our lives are almost controlled by computers. They control our transport systems, our health systems, financial systems and they are being used more in education (is it little wonder that hand writing skills are deteriorating). Sorry, rant over.

I'm very lucky that we have not had to put into practice what we talk alot about on here and my thoughts go out to those who are not so fortunate.

On a lighter note, I have made my first Lemon Curd today (for Christmas presents) and unfortuantly we've already eaten half of it, oh dear. I'll have to make some more .

Keep prepping everyone.

GreyQueen

Pollyjuice, the diligent home cook has to be exacting in her standards and preserve quality control over the baked goods etc.

So you had to eat the lemon curd, y'see? It was your duty. We expect nothing less of our fellow MSE forumites..........:rotfl:

fuddle

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Thankfully, flooding is the one thing I don't need to prep for.

Being snowed in, but not flooding.

Never say never

I don't know what kind of dwelling you are in BB but if you're anyway attached to other dwellings it can happen. I was sat in my lettings office the other day when the call came into say that there was water coming up through the floors and quite quickly. Turned out to be a burst in one house that effected all 3 in the street.

It made me think twice about flood risk not being solely due to weather issues and another reason why I really should get that bob assembled again.

Hollyberry

Wow, GQ - thank you so much for that! :T Lots to read and digest there.

Whilst I love brassicas, I think the combination of wood pigeons and cabbage whites here would be a bit much to contend with. And as the pigeons are both sweet and gormless, I would feel mean fending them off too much (I'm sure I'll learn better!).

Great suggestion about starting with the end in mind (always useful, so good to apply to the garden). I love squashes and pumpkins, so they need to go on my list. And I think I'd take some child-like pleasure in seeing them grow. I like Jerusalem artichokes, so they should be added. Have you ever tried growing salsify? That's one of my fave veg, and very hard to find anywhere in the shops. Leeks are on the list too, and some raspberries and loganberries (takes me back to childhood, when I was the official house picker , being about the same height as the canes...). Salad greens would be excellent. I forgot that I already have some herbs - rosemary, different thymes, assorted mint - and the premium aliums sound like a useful addition, especially as we get through a fair amount of garlic.

Yum! Looking forward to next year already. I can't say that I've had much gardening experience for many a year - our garden was always Nan's, then my mum's and now (as the family desire to get weeding seems to kick in at about my current age) this is clearly my year.