Preparedness for when

The_Dragon

GreyQueen wrote: »

Yeah, disgraceful is the word, all right. Buying silly-quantities of perishable foodstuffs because it's snowing/ due to show is foolish and wasteful.

Better to have reasonable quantities of perishables and say a couple of kilos of breadflour and some dried yeast so that you can throw a loaf together if necessary.

My ambition in such a situation would be NOT to have to go to the store at all, unless I absolutely had to. It'd be hell getting to one of the big supermarkets (30 mins' bike away minimum) and it would be beyond-maddening to go all that way and not find what I needed. Plus with ME, journeys of that length which involve several hills would see my day's energy allocation wiped.

I'd turn out for friend and neighbour SuperGran as she's nearly 70 and I wouldn't want her on icy pavements if I could go in her stead, but she's a very clued-up lady and would probably be fine. When she was laid-up with a broken leg last year I ran her a few errands but she has a stock-cupboard and wasn't in a crisis.

Running a storecupboard makes me more aware of the quantities of various items I use, not less, so I'm able to calculate my consumption more accurately and avoid waste. Eg; 4 pints milk in 7 days, 1 litre of oil and 160 teabags a month, 1 kg of porridge oats a month.........

When we had really bad snow in Cambridge 8 or 9 years back Dr Dragon struggled to the local Mr T (where we rarely shopped!) and got beer/wine/munchies/cheese and bread flour - we had enough coffee and herbal tea and we figured that they would clear the roads in a few days

wondercollie

annie123 wrote: »

I can just cope with 48 hours worth here before I've had enough of it. In a previous life I was born somewhere hot and tropical

Are Vit D supplements taken regularly by everyone there?

Not really. Some dairy products have added Vit. D.

If you can afford it, you plan a winter escape to somewhere hot. Mexico, Vegas, Arizona, and Florida see a lot of Canadians from Nov-March.

We're the pasty white lot sweating at the swim-up bars.

MrsChristmas

fuddle wrote: »

It's kind of like that here. I'm surrounded by Towns - one 10 mile that way, another 20 mile the other etc but as a village we're pretty rural, what I would call semi rural(surrounded by fields and link roads are 60mph country roads.)

Same here. We're not totally in the middle of nowhere, larger than a village but smaller than a town! There's 3 roads that lead to us & a few yrs ago when it snowed the lorries were unable to get up these roads meaning we were effectively cut off.....the 2 things that you could not get for love nor money was bread & bizaarly enough..... wet wipes?! (We had a baby) Luckily I had part bake baguettes & pizza base mixes put away so it turned out to be quite good fun, creating pizza toppings rather than an everyday sandwich!
We've also randomly been without water for a day & electricity twice due to work men cut through something or other so it does pay for me to keep bottled water & a camping stove to hand.
A good tip from a friend recently is to make sure you fill the kettle before bed just incase you wake up to no water, that way you'll always get a brew before having to flap /panic!

Now, GARLIC.... I/we adore garlic and use it in everything.... even tuna mayo on jacket potato as I discovered yesterday... At the moment ONESTOP sell 3 organic garlics for 99p (it's the best deal I've found & the garlic is really nice) & I wondered if there's a way I could buy quite a few & store them? Usually I keep them in a cool/dark cupboard with me spuds,I was just wondering if there was a better way to keep them longer?
I don't always throw the garlic straight into a meal whilst cooking as as soon as it's been crushed, & it's good properties activated by the crushing, cooking can destroy some of these. Instead,I'll crush it over the cooked dish & mix it straight in... nobody's complained yet!
Having said that, I love it smoked/baked/roasted/served with cheeses ... nom, nom

D&DD

Thanks for posting the links Annie I saw Rick's youtube before I realised he had a blog etc and followed the link to his site he's so positive about both prepping and GYO I really like his can do attitude to life in general even when he's had disasters!

I'm debating which potatoes to grow next year,I grew Arran victory,homeguard and anya last year and as it was a poor year didn't have a great yield from the AV's or homeguard but would like to try them again as the ones that did grow were lovely..

This year I grew mainly Anya with a few Maris peer and charlottes,the Anya were a magnificent crop as always but disappointed again by the maris peer and charlottes..

I've got carlingford and nicola in at the moment for xmas tatties and they're galloping along well.
I fancy trying either winston or red duke of york next year anyone have any opinions as to which is better??

Jeannie I have found tons of kindle books for free from waay back they're a fascinating read aren't they? Its a good job I can get them electronically or else my house would be insulated three times over by now :rotfl:

Off to MrS today to see if I can get the teabags I'm all up the spout shoppingwise as I've been so busy I need to get back to being vaguely organised..

Have a great day all
XXX

ETA Dragon if you mean craprollz give Noo a shout

[Deleted User]

flipping heck, my long post disappeared!!!

re potatoes and variety. I am aiming to get started early and to be able to harvest during the `deep` hungry gap months and the seed potato supplier says that some varieties will be in short supply. I would rather protect my beds with fleece than be concerned about blight and anyway I can get another crop eg squashes if I get the spuds out by july. I have ordered only one variety ie lady christl, I have grown them last two years and we started eating them mid may. They just get bigger to the end and will keep us going until july. I have a `gut feeling only` that next year`s weather will be similar ie warm spring so am wanting to take advantage if it happens

Nov forecast is in and I`ll be sowing my aquadulce seeds 3/4 through november. Garlic onion sets and shallots are in, garlic needs a whole month of below freezing weather and it`ll get a bit of that first half of nov

All garden/allotment tidying is finished thank goodness, harvest supper has come and gone so am just about ready to hibernate. Choc order was delivered today and wool is safely stashed. Wood pellets moved to a closer storage area. Prep is all finished, don`t see what else I can do

mardatha

http://www.deramores.com/knit-your-own-zombie?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=knit%2Byour%2Bown%2Bzombie

Horrible torrential icy downpour here, think I've got cabin fever already and it's just October !

jeanniefaethecarse

annie123 wrote: »

scroll down a short way to the 2 big pics to see what you can grow on concrete
http://www.container-gardening-for-food.com/

Thanks for that annie, super site! - Jeannie xx

mardatha

My god kittie - we're just putting our tatties in in mid May!

Caterina

vanoonoo wrote: »

for the preppers menu on this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4235925
should I suggest
blighted potatao rosti
paracord spaghetti with reconstituted from dehydrated tinned tomato jus
couscous "rice" pudding and homemade jam
served with distilled "water" from the steam iron shots
SHTF sorbet between courses
followed by blackberry leaf tea and twinks hobnobs?

Oh I posted a "regular OSer" menu, not a Prepper one! See if you like it, vegetarian dinner party!

VJsmum

kittie wrote: »

Prep is all finished, don`t see what else I can do

Come and help me with mine :rotfl: