Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

MAR if you're mainly down to grass would you like fruit trees? would you get apples, pears, damsons,plums to grow at your altitude? just as much vitamin content in fruit as there is in veg, also rhubarb is pretty hardy and we saw it growing wild on the roadside verges in the Orkneys, more north than your location and it was thriving. Could you grow raspberries and blackberries, both pretty hardy and down here at least pretty prolific fruiters. A small orchard of trees would need less tending than a veg plot, would give you a pretty good yield for not too much work(just in case your ME plays up and you're blitzed) and crops that would keep you as healthy as all the kale in christendom. I think that kale and leeks are probably the hardiest left in the ground to overwinter crops I know of, so maybe small beds of those too and you've got a garden.

Just had a look online and came across an article that might be useful to you - put in a search for Permaculture Magazine - Vegetables to grow in winter and there is lots of information and suggestions for hardy veg to plant, might be useful, Lyn xxx.

thriftwizard

Following on from MrsLW's suggestion, a handful of laying hens are pretty low maintenance, contribute a lot to the kitchen & are also great entertainment; given a safe, dry shelter at night and a run to keep them safe during the day, they just need letting out, feeding & watering, & shutting away at dusk & they'll convert the vast majority of your kitchen scraps into either eggs or compost (which can often be parlayed into crops by arrangement with local plot-holders/gardeners) with very little trouble. You don't need to spend a fortune to acquire suitable kit - I've just been offered a coop & run on our local Freecycle - but you do need someone reliable to feed them, let them out & shut them away if you're going away.

mardatha

Had hens thriftwizard and loved them to bits, until I got flu on top of ME and couldn't get out of bed to feed them.. the RV couldn't get into the pen because he built the door 4ft high! So after a lot of swearing and moaning we gave them away to friends.
Rhubarb grows here MrsL, neighbours got tons of the stuff. I dont like it though. Other neighbour has apple and plum trees that rarely get any fruit, I think frost gets the buds or something. I could cetainly do berries though - brambles and rasps and tayberries grow wild on the estate near me. Might do that actually. Leeks yes I grew leeks a few years now and they lovely, good for soup. TY all! xx

[Deleted User]

greenbee wrote: »

You're doing better than me. I got UKIPed yesterday :eek:

Just collared some berk, seconds after he had stuffed a Labour Party flyer through my door, in defiance of my notice.

His excuse was , he was rushing to get them delivered.

Nettles yes. Not so sure about the mushrooms...

Nothing wrong with field mushrooms.

[Deleted User]

anika wrote: »

they have advertised a nice little stove, which I have seen advertised for a tenner in Asda, so I will be starting with one of those.

Does it look something like this?

If so, how much are they selling it for?

[Deleted User]

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

i really cannot stand bear grylls, he is too gushing and sensationalist, i much prefer the cool and calm ray mears and i would welcome him into my tent anytime

You really need Lofty Wiseman.

[Deleted User]

Frugalsod wrote: »

A welcome addition to any group of preppers. :beer:

And for a group of male preppers, there's Kellie Nightlinger. :cool:

herbily

Mardatha, I don't know if hazel bushes will grow where you are? Nuts can be stored (as any squirrel will tell you) and with a coffee grinder and a bit of cocoa powder you could make your own Nutella in an emergency!


Alternatively, could you grow something to trade? Stuff like asparagus takes a while to get going, but people will pay good money for the stuff (obviously depends on your neighbours' tastes).

westlothianlass

Mar.
I grow a lot of berries, tayberries, raspberries, redcurrants and white currants and they all do really well, do you like peas? Very easy to grow either in pots or in the ground.
Fruit trees can be a bit fickle but there's a number of hardy varieties that do very well up here, I can look up the varieties if you would like
Hth
WLL. X

D&DD

Evening all


Been an April showers sort of few days here but lovely red sky so hoping for brighter things tomorrow,the un-shredded bits of the garden are loving it and managed to fill some gaps with spares so all in all it could have been a lot worse.


Mar you can't go wrong with berries and currants.There are so many to choose from too now with all the crosses and hybrids about. Look for thornless varieties too don't forget,tayberries,loganberries and blackberries are all available without the prickles.


You do tatties already don't you,do you like carrots,parsnips etc?
No sense growing anything that you or the RV won't eat.Don't forget a patch of cat grass for you know who and catnip Both are really easy to grow and catnip dries very easily for future use.


Herbs you can use in your soaps as well things like lemon verbena and lavender..


WLL good to hear from you glad the gardens up there are starting to come to life XX