Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I think the wild harvest is going to be phenomenal this year if the hawthorn and elder locally are any indication but the crab apples, sloes and bullaces seem to be very sparsely fruited, maybe due to the hot and dry weather. I don't know what the yield will be like but coming across Salisbury Plain in the train yesterday the cereal fields look very heavily in ear and it looks like a very good crop, ripening very well too.

It is things like this in which preppers could do very well from. Knowing that there is going to be a bumper crop will allow you to plan accordingly, maybe buying extra for a longer or having the confidence to clear old stocks knowing there will be more to replace it with.

From keeping an eye locally to watching what is happening internationally like potential coffee or chocolate shortages well ahead of the news hitting the general public will allow you to stock up well before the panic buying starts.

[Deleted User]

A very quick scan of google shows two areas of failed harvests and that is Ghanaian Cocoa Beans and Olives for pressing into olive oil, both of which commodities might be in short supply over the next year. Certainly prices will rise as the shortages bite.

greenbee

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

It's raining here today, lovely gentle persistent rain that is soaking in and not running off so our fruit trees will be very grateful.

You've got different rain from us. Heavy and persistent and running off onto the roads causing flooding...

GreyQueen

Frugalsod wrote: »

I did not know what a mattock was so looked online and think that they are truly multifunctional. Come the revolution you could find them just as useful as a pitchfork, plus very good for gardening and weeding. In a bug out situation they would also be very handy for clearing a route to safety through weeds or hedgerows or even zombies. They might even have a use splitting firewood, though probably as a last resort. Added to wishlist!

My mattock is far too heavy to serve most of those purposes, but I do have a trad hedging tool, which belonged to the Grandad who died when I was a babe-in-arms. These are about 3 ft long inc handle, with a heavy chopping blade and a backward facing hook.

I used to split firewood with it as a kid. They'd be suitable for hacking through undergrowth in this temperate zone, and a similar-shaped head used to be mounted as a weapon called a pole-arm or halberd. Although these would have had a long spike on the end.

A halberd was used by a Swiss peasant to kill Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, ending the Burgundian Wars (1474-77) at a single stroke and the skull of Richard III looks as if a halberd sliced through the back of it at Bosworth.

Handy bit if kit, hey? They used the hook opposite the blade to pull horsemen off their mounts. I'm sharing this in case you're ever going to have to serve as infantry in medieval-style battles. But the hand axe is the true tool of the temperate woodlands.

Cold steel, they don't like it up 'em.

mardatha

Our problem up here is not drought but lack of warmth and sun. Been a horrible summer - today is the first day in weeks that's stayed dry all day.

ivyleaf

I think we've had/are still having our turn at the heavy rain today, mar.

I was so pleased to get a text from my friend in Glasgow area saying she and her husband were playing with their grandsons in the sun this evening. I know you've had rubbish weather this "summer". We were up there for a week in June and only had one sunny day.

ETA If the price of chocolate is going to go up, perhaps it will be the push I need to give it up.....I somehow doubt it though :eek:. And it doesn't keep for years and years, unlike some things. As for the olive oil, I suppose I'll just have to use less

jk0

Can you believe I've needed a jumper and the heating on today? First time I've ever had heating on in July I think. Maybe I'm getting old. My granny used to have hers on year round.

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...I can...because I had a quick blast of central heating yesterday morning and am having another one this morning. Mind you - its not a temporary phenomenon for me by the look of it. I've got both summer and winter slippers and dressing gowns. Since moving - I've rarely worn my summer slippers and never worn my summer dressing gown:(. As for lounging around in the nuddy in my house in the summer any more = I think I've given up hope of ever being able to do that again bar a lottery win and another move (which does have its plus sides I suppose - now I've got to the "body not being a pretty sight any more" age:(). I'm still getting my head round how different the weather can be in the same country...

So - don't give up on yourself and think "getting old" jko - at a very practical level = have you moved? and that would be why...

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

Our problem up here is not drought but lack of warmth and sun. Been a horrible summer - today is the first day in weeks that's stayed dry all day.

That's because your rainclouds are hovering over southern England. It started raining midmorning yesterday and is still raining 22 hours later. It's been years since I can recall seeing such a prolonged rain, winter or summer.

If it stops raining later, I shall transplant my leeks. The lottie was dry-as-dust last weekend when I prepped the ground for them, but should be just about perfect now.

Heck, if it doesn't stop raining I may even transplant them in the rain. Wouldn't be the first time I've done such things when time's a-pressing.

jk0

Thanks MITSTM.

Nope, been in this house for ten years, though I have always found it a very cold place. I'm thankful at least that I can afford the heating, as I love the house & area in all other respects.

It looks brighter today, but I still have my jumper on.