Preparedness for when

bluebag

mardatha wrote: »

My main whine - erm question is - see all these tons of horrible stuff... what do you DO with it ? There must be a limit to the amount you can eat. If I shove a plate of leaves under the RV's nose, drenched in lemon juice or not, he's liable to erupt higher and faster than Vesuvius!

Same with my lovely OH, he thinks green stuff is for rabbits only. I can get away with sneaking stuff in sauces and whatever, any kind of red sauce is good ( I've been tempted to use blood on occasion!!!:D ) but if you can identify it ... no chance.

I jsut gave up, and concentrated on the stuff he would eat, but then I can't grow anything because of my very serious case of stickgroweritis. So I use the bought, frozen, tinned stuff.

bluebag

[Deleted User] wrote:

A garden-sorting day here too in the Pink Thrift household. My potting shed has somehow turned into storage facility for anything overflowing from the garage :cool:

Had a major sort out, throwing away broken pots and trays and sweeping the benches and floors. I then washed all the pots and will wash the trays next weekend. It was very useful as I can now readily see what size pots and trays I'm short of. I picked up a good selection from the charity shop last year so I'm going to look out for some more.

I'll be buying some new trays and inserts when I see them at a good price locally.

The more we can grow the less we will have to rely on the supermarkets Last year was our first full growing year and we have managed to put something home grown on our plates everyday since last May. It's hard work though, and we are forever at war with the pesky rabbits, slugs and cabbage white butterflies. For us, growing our own veg is a form of protection from food inflation and also good for our health (both in terms of the quality of the food and the exercise required to make it all happen). If the SHTF in the Pink Thrift Household then our garden is our future pantry.

I need a lie down after just READING this post....:eek:

[Deleted User]

:rotfl:I know, what a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Luckily my OH is just as mad as me

Butterfly_Brain

I am aiming to get into preserving in a bigger way this year, including dehydrating, freezing, pickling and making jam, marmalade, wine etc with home grown fruit and veg and also cheap aldi super six or market reduced stuff rather than buying chemical laden supermarkup rubbish. I already make my own bread, and butter using ys double cream which I freeze which makes it last a long time.
DH is planning to build a double sized rocket stove outside and we will us the barbecue and fire pit more for cooking. He plans to build more flower pot heaters just as soon as Wilkinsons get the terracotta pots in store. The old fireplaces are going to be opened up and fitted with a log burner and back boiler for hot water if we can afford more than one we will have a couple installed but because we live in a smokeless zone they have to be Defra approved which means being charged double the price of an ordinary one and we will stock up on logs during the summer.

GreyQueen

bluebag wrote: »

If you swop the tea for value coffee I'm on my way! Seriously, I have even killed mint, rhubarb and Ivy.

Some clown once gave me a bonzai tree..... requiem mass in no time flat.

Wow, it's really really hard to kill ivy. I've hacked it off at ground level and dragged it off the back of a 4 storey Victorian house (yes, I am mad, this was a pig-of-a-job) and I still had to poison the roots.

And mint is immortal, isn't it?! Seriously, that is a talent to be proud of, you could rent your services to organisations trying to get rid of Japanese Knotweed and all sorts. I can see a figure in lycra, leaping to the [STRIKE]Batcave [/STRIKE] garden shed and gathering up the Wheelbarrow of Doom before whizzing to the site of the overly-exuberant plantage and saying, possibly with an evil cackle Riiiiggggghhhhhttttt me lovelies......!

Errm, the inside of my imagination is a strange place at times.:o

Butterfly_Brain

GreyQueen wrote: »

Wow, it's really really hard to kill ivy. I've hacked it off at ground level and dragged it off the back of a 4 storey Victorian house (yes, I am mad, this was a pig-of-a-job) and I still had to poison the roots.

And mint is immortal, isn't it?! Seriously, that is a talent to be proud of, you could rent your services to organisations trying to get rid of Japanese Knotweed and all sorts. I can see a figure in lycra, leaping to the [STRIKE]Batcave [/STRIKE] garden shed and gathering up the Wheelbarrow of Doom before whizzing to the site of the overly-exuberant plantage and saying, possibly with an evil cackle Riiiiggggghhhhhttttt me lovelies......!

Errm, the inside of my imagination is a strange place at times.:o

You do make me chuckle GQ

BessieBooBoo

Hello all

Wow, you have some creative ideas!

Still waiting to hear about 2nd job today, may ring in a bit, (after being on here!).

As I have been working my evening job, doing overtime, and reading like mad on my Kindle that Santa kindly bought me, haven't posted much.

I did come across a quote, which really struck home with me, and although I may be preaching to the converted, I'd like to share:

A goal, without a plan, is just a wish.

It really jolted me to thinking howto plan my prepping, not just wishing I had the skills many people have, but plan/research how to find & do these. I have loads of cookery books, so the info is there to cook from scratch, and learn to preserve in many ways, even have a free download of Mrs Beeton (which I haven't read yet!).

I even found some woodcraft and camping books which are also down-loaded, again, yet to read, and OH has a stack of Ray Mears books, so, now need to put these into practice, not just wishing I could do all these useful skills!

It's a great inspiration to me, just what people on here are doing to prep, and the skills they already have, so please keep posting these, it's a great motivator.

My second mantra which I found in a book of quotes is appropriate for this forum:

Prepare for the worst, but, hope for the best!

To me, it means, if I prep, it's gives me peace of mind, and helps me look on the positive side, so I don't worry or stress out about all the news and info people find.

I think the more skills I can learn, the more optimistic I will feel.

Thanks all!

BBB

The ddog is sleeping again, kicking and dream barking, well, at least she thinks she is hunting in her sleep!

maryb

I'm another one who can kill mint. But I can't kill buddleia, more's the pity - we have one growing in a crack in our 30 foot high retaining wall (house built into a hillside) and NOTHING kills that - even mixing SBK with oil and dousing the stump.

Butterfly Brain check that you will be able to use logs if you have a back boiler. I have a Clearview which is on the Defra list for use in a smokeless zone because it is so efficient (and I LOOOOVE that stove) but if we had a back boiler fitted it would reduce the efficiency to the point where we could only use smokeless fuel and not logs

sb44

I have just found this page on Pinterest full of prepping and SHTF stuff.

The one about broken glasses (specs) may be worth doing as an experiment with the kids!

http://pinterest.com/nascostaposto/survival-kit-72-hours/

Butterfly_Brain

Thanks for that maryb