Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

Or MLW, maybe the farmers will swap to growing rice.

[Deleted User]

We'll all have to go back to keeping a goat for our milk (those of us with gardens big enough that is NOT GQ!!!) and learn to make cheese too. We'll have to learn to eat less meat and use up everything that is edible instead of buying too much and throwing some of it away. I think that common sense will have to be applied to encouraging folks that can to keep livestock and chickens, even using some land to form village pig clubs again like in the war. I think there is a rather steep learning curve approaching at a great rate of knots and there will be great hardships and deprivations to be undergone but there is a solution of sorts available if people will work hard enough to make it happen.

thriftwizard

I'm with Monbiot on this one; what we need in the uplands is more trees. They keep the water where it should be, in the ground rather than on it. Can be used for food & fuel too, if you don't insist on planting line after line of swift-growing conifers that are only good for making paper. But as long as our farmers are being paid to raise sheep, who compact the soil, graze off small saplings, and cost more to shear than their fleeces are worth, we won't get trees. Don't get me wrong; many of my friends keep small flocks, I'm a spinner & was brought up surrounded by sheep, & I adore them, but the days when wool was our principal export are long gone - like our trees.

Not long ago I was in a part of Spain where 100 years ago a far-sighted lawyer bought up acre after acre of dirt-cheap desertified mountain badlands. He planted trees & paid people to water them until they were established; now it's a glorious nature reserve which is self-sustaining & actually attracts what little rain there is, creating its own micro-climate. The air feels quite different up there & you can't help but feel that this is how Spain should be, if they hadn't cut down all their trees long ago, to build ships & raise sheep. Just as we did, but we get more rain. Too much, now!

[Deleted User]

We might need to ressurect the wool trade though, if the climate changes and the places where cotton can grow are no longer available we'll all still need clothing won't we? I agree about planting trees though, replant the orchards and planting sustainable woodlands where wild game can flourish and timber for building and shipbuilding and furnature can be grown also for firewood is only common sense and sorely needed.

thriftwizard

The wool's still being produced, MrsLW, but most of it isn't used for clothing. That which gets used at all - much of it is just dumped or burnt - goes for carpets & insulation. That's not to say that British wool isn't some of the best in the world; indeed it is (as a spinner I can get very excited about fine Shetland or pearly Portland) but if you want wall-to-wall carpet, you'd need to be pretty wealthy before you'd buy pure British wool. And the insulation, whilst second to absolutely nothing, doesn't come as cheap as rockwool, either.

The EU's agricultural policies have a lot to answer for. They're basically paying people to raise vast amounts of "products" that they then have to invent a niche market for! But not a penny, or very little, for those who struggle on, keeping a handful of top-quality animals in a compassionate way that doesn't bulldoze the environment, just tons of paperwork. Ah well, it can't go on indefinitely. Just support any small producers you happen to know…

On a different tack, what about the main South-West railway line being washed away at Dawlish? That's not going to get sorted in a hurry, is it? But has been totally eclipsed by the Tube strike...

jk0

Last April I spent nearly £2k on a new flat roof for my office extension. I insisted on lead flashing being chased into the render of the existing house, as there was a leak at this point previously.

Last night I heard the familiar sound of water drops landing on my carpet.

This morning I have half a saucepan of water collected. The joys of home ownership, eh?

craigywv

hello all, this talk of so much rain etc effecting our harvests for next year is very worrying and talk of price increases etc due to importing, well what goods would be good NOW to store/prep goods in particular please could you give me a list as if I use much on the list I would like to start and maybe buy a bit in now a week. I was thinking maybe tinned potatoes as your all saying about water logged grounds what else please? thank-you.

Austin_Allegro

jk0 wrote: »

Last April I spent nearly £2k on a new flat roof for my office extension. I insisted on lead flashing being chased into the render of the existing house, as there was a leak at this point previously.

Last night I heard the familiar sound of water drops landing on my carpet.

This morning I have half a saucepan of water collected. The joys of home ownership, eh?

You're not alone. A similar thing happened to my mother's new porch, despite the builder being FMB accredited. The previous old porch had had a leak, which I'd patched myself 'temporarily' with waterproof tape - my repair lasted two years but the professional rebuild only lasted six months before it started leaking!

Moral: if you want something done properly do it yourself...:rotfl:

Frugalsod

siegemode wrote: »

Thanks, I've had a look and a think, but decided I'll stick with Chef Classic since the blender and food processor are not things I think I'll use enough to justify their storage space. I did like the look and stainless steel bowl though.



I'm sure once me and Kenny are well aquainted I will be using him plenty. I just get very anxious about spending so much and making the right decision. I think my OH is going to get interested in more baking too expanding his role of chief quality tester and house breadmaker
He fancies the meat mincer and sausage maker attachments. Do you have these ? We prefer to make everything from scratch and eat organic so that we know what we are consuming and avoid certain commercial ingredients for health reasons. Which attachments do you get the most use out of please ?


Thank you GQ for reminding me it is indeed a preptastic tool .
I shall be able to stock the freezer with more yummy things for those days when ME prevents me from spending time in my kitchen.

I do have the mincer. I only use it once a month or so but then my mince lasts me ages. The best part was when the horse meat scandal hit I was immune because I was already mincing my own beef shin. I have not tried making sausages as I am trying to cut back on fatty foods. Though I am looking at making my own sausage meat for scotch eggs.

I probably find that the mixing bowl (for bread) food processor (for crumble mix, and small portions of dough) and liquidiser for soups. I do have two liquidisers, a glass (for making Baileys) and aluminium (for soups). I use these every week or two. I also have the multi mill which I should use more once I start making mayonnaise and salad dressings. The roto cutter is really best for rasping at hard cheese like parmesan. I can slice just as easily with the food processor. I started with the cheaper version of the pasta maker and will upgrade to the better version in due course.

Karmacat

craigywv wrote: »

hello all, this talk of so much rain etc effecting our harvests for next year is very worrying and talk of price increases etc due to importing, well what goods would be good NOW to store/prep goods in particular please could you give me a list as if I use much on the list I would like to start and maybe buy a bit in now a week. I was thinking maybe tinned potatoes as your all saying about water logged grounds what else please? thank-you.

This is a 90 day food calculator from a British prepping site - I think its wildly wrong in some ways (720 tea bags for 1 person for 3 months? Don't they use them more than once :eek:) but it gives you a starting point to think about supplies. Oh, and I'm vegetarian too, so a lot of the list about tuna etc is useless to me. Still, same point, its a start to think about stuff.
http://www.p2snetwork.co.uk/psclite.html