Preparedness for when

Rosetta92

Afternoon everyone :wave:

All this talk of skills is very wise. I'm making a new year resolution of this. Planning to learn or revive at least one skill a month in 2013. Will this make me twelve times as useful by this time next year? :rotfl:

Skills on the list so far:

Crochet - used to do a bit when I was younger but have forgotten most of it.
Woodworking - thinking this would be handy for making spoons, bowls, small bits of kit eg: storage shelves
Herbs - growing more and learning which ones are useful for medicines, dyes etc. The garden needs a good sort out, so the end result should be pretty and practical.

What other skills would be good to pick up?

Happy New Year folks :j

R

[Deleted User]

I don`t believe that we could feed the population as in WW2.. Most land now consists of mega big fields with mega machinery, we no longer have the horses with small machinery so could not go into the nooks and crannies and certainly could not cope with the weather we seem to be getting these days. The `known` population has gone up 20% since 1950 and is quite likely to be even higher than 20%, so we definitely haven`t enough land as they only got through by the skin of their teeth. Getting back to fertility will be nigh on impossible, artificial chemicals are used on all the big fields these days, so the soil structure and micro population in the soil are ruined

westcoastscot

Don't usually post here but read often - really interesting discussion.
Mar and Mary I agree with both your posts - it's really hard to make a living up here, it's a skill that evolves over time, and certainly when I lived on the island life was physically challenging but fantastic. Since moving to the mainland i've realised just how different our life was - lots of day to day choices just weren't there - we had to eat seasonally, manage when crops failed, croft/hunt/fish our protein and make do and mend/barter skills as there wasn't anywhere to purchase stuff at a price we could afford, including skills. Since moving here i've quickly got used to being able to go to the shops, albeit several miles away, when we need groceries, to the GP without a 100 mile round trip being involved and having a "day off" if I want to.
With my physical health now I wouldn't survive back home without a lot of help - and what I wanted to say was that it wouldn't work to "head for the hills" in a SHTF situation - most folks wouldn't last 2 minutes as the day to day work involved is huge and needs a total change in mindset and every member of the family needs to work productively in some way. A better plan is to develop skills to allow you to stay safely where you are, or nearby if you need to be evacuated, and try and be as self-reliant as possible in your day to day life, stock-piling somewhat to keep you going through bad weather/power cuts/illness etc.
WCS

[Deleted User]

Valid point KITTIE we don't have the heavy horses any more but, still have some breeding stock of most breeds and could, eventually get the numbers up again. Not much use in the short term but hope for the future. Valid point also about factory farms and chemical fertilizers but, we still know how to make compost, again very small enterprise at the start, but councils have facilities to recycle green waste and I suspect that could be utilised for compost making. Some farmers have begun to spread muck again on the fields as the price of artificials is so high. The weather is what it is, we can do nothing to alter it, so would just have to take what is given us. What we do have, in abundance is people power, and if folks want to eat, they will have to learn to dig and sow and grow and harvest. In the distant past people were the work force that fed the population, not easy but again doable in necessity, Cheers Lyn xxx.

greenbee

You do know what kind of muck they're spreading don't you Lyn?

(mind you, the sewage farms will pack up so it has to go somewhere...)

[Deleted User]

Mmmmmmmmm - oh well, if there is nothing else to use!!!!!!!!

[Deleted User]

greenbee wrote: »

You do know what kind of muck they're spreading don't you Lyn?

(mind you, the sewage farms will pack up so it has to go somewhere...)

Farmers get this horrible stuff for free

https://www.gov.uk/managing-sewage-sludge-slurry-and-silage

they have to wait only 3 weeks before harvesting or grazing animals

http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/9712/sludge.htm

LW, I also wish but it is impossible unless they get rid of 20% of the population pdq and that means the oldies and infirm via routes like the LCP. It`s really a very bad scenario

[Deleted User]

Good job we have some useful skills then petal, we'll be well down the list!!!!! How is the hair growing going? Hope it is still bearable for you and you aren't arguing with yourself about the decision to grow it! Cheers Lyn xxx.

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

But when it really mattered in WWII people got their act together, didn't they? Prepping gets you through the critical stage and then we somehow have to find collective solutions, because I think your friend is right, there's not much point being a survivalist here in the UK.

And people who feel they have to put glass on their walls do so because there's a lot of minor crime that goes unpunished. I think that would stop and thieving simply would not be tolerated.

I also have a feeling that old fashioned "morality" would make a come back - parents and whole communities used to enforce good behaviour because with no safety net, lack of respectability/good character could have serious consequences and plunge a whole family into poverty. It's very recent that people feel they shouldn't be "judgemental" about frankly poor life choices.

Yes, in the villages in particular, people were very afraid of getting a bad rep. Lots of people like my family were in cottages owned by their employer, the local farmer. If you were a PITA, or a household member was a PITA, you could be "put out" on the street.

One of my Mum's foster brothers was wanted by his father's employer-landlord to work on the farm once he left school. He wanted to work in town but with the boss holding the whiphand over the family home as well as the family income, he had to do what he was told for a few years.

I've also heard from people who grew up in London in the early-mid twentieth century that there was no point in running from the Police as they knew everyone and would just be waiting for you at home. And as for parents assaulting schoolteachers..........! Unthinkable. Back in the day if a lad came home snivelling that he'd had the ruler across his palm or the slipper, he'd get some more from his Da with a stern Teacher wouldn't've hit yer fer nothing.

One of my rellies (Dad's peer) was a regular PITA and still continued disobedientantly despite corporal punishment from the schoolmaster. His father wanted him to join the family business but he was a bit below school leaving age, but you could apply to the school. The headmaster acceeded to the request and said Frankly, Mr

---

, if you can do anything with him, you're a better man than I am!

The bad lad made good and went on to have a reputable career.:rotfl:

Mar, re your online pal, there's a very real issue about the population density of a country like the UK vs a continent-sized country like the USA. We don't have vast wildernesses to lose ourselves in like the Rockies or the great deserts of the south-western US. But there is a reason that these parts have been historically under-occupied; very poor land and extremes of heat and cold. To a lesser degree, this applies to some regions of the UK.

If we had a protracted SHTF situation, we'd soon start losing people to comunicable diseases in the UK; cholera, typhoid and a host of other nasties. Chronically-ill peeps like myself requiring meds to survive would waste away. People requiring oxygen, dialysis, intensive care following accidents or wounds would perish. Going forward, every mother would put her life on the line with every pregnancy, and many poor wee children would perish. It'd be grim, to say the least.

In terms of heading for the tall timber, you might be well-advised to stay put in a known environment, whether it be urban, suburban or whatever. You can die of exposure pdq even in our climate, far faster than you'd perish of hunger.

The only things which I'd consider bugging out for would be the desire/ need to reunite the family, imminent peril from other human beings, or a prolonged breakdown of water and sanitation which would render high-density housing like mine a deathtrap from disease.

On a cheerier note, I do know where to lay my hands on a breeding herd of heavy horses (20 miles away, and I know which fields they're in). My late grandad (1895-1967) was one of the last to plough with horses and my own Dad has worked with them as cart horses, although his farm was modern enough to plough with tractors. It's tough; the horseman on the farm would be up at 4 am to feed the horses, home for his brekkie and then back to take them out at 7 am to work. Dad always said they liked to work and if one of them wasn't needed that day and got left behind, it'd kick up a helluva fuss.

He also said woe-betide a farmboy who tried to turn a horse away from the farm towards 4 pm (their hometime) as they bliddy well knew when to clock-off and wouldn't have it.

ginnyknit

I think if the shtf where I live I would be a lonely prepper and have to fortify my home and garden. One couple are allotmenteers but very nasty unhappy people whom I once tried to befriend as I thought they were like minded but turned out to be at odds with all and sundry. As for morality, well thats a bit short too, down the road is a bit of a war zone and was featured on tv not long ago (my GP gave me a link for the pc to watch the programme as she was worried about me) there are camera's all round a small area where they congregated with stolen cars - thats where our brand new Punto ended up leaving us with great upset and a huge shortfall after the insurance paid up 4 years ago. I really will have to be self reliant and stay put probably bringing Dd and co home too as they have no garden. But we would manage with our combined skills and Dd's Oh and my Ds's strength and fitness making up for my shortfall in that dpaartment. Dd's Oh is a skilled woodsman, from being a boy his dad ensured his children knew the basics and he has expanded on this with personal and army training. We are close to woodland and resevoirs which helps and have an abundance of ducks, geese and rabbits.