Preparedness for when

Confuzzled

i've decided that this year i'm going to get serious about foraging. not only will we be foraging for things we normally do but i plan to actively search for new things and hopefully something new with each month

it's a form of exercise, great free veg and since i have a dehydrator i plan to dry some as well as using it fresh

we're moving at the end of april into a new area so i want to get as much as i can from our current location (nettles mostly given the time of year methinks) and then foraging will give us a really good knowledge of our new are

i've been cutting back our meat intake for a few years and upping our pulses and cheap seeds and nuts i get from approved foods. i also have taken advantage of huge things of noodles and pasta from them and much of what i should be able to find foraging could easily be tossed into soups, or sauces for noodles/pasta etc

i think it's a good idea to get us used to these tastes now and to become as familiar as possible not only with what we can find in our local area but with what comes with what seasons etc. if things really do get bad then at least we'll be able to find something to eat, even if it's not a lot

i may, if i find some suitable spots, start guerilla gardening, i rather like the idea of that!

[Deleted User]

3 (+?) weeks of it. I`m ready

http://www.weatheraction.com/displayarticle.asp?a=512&c=5

GreyQueen

kittie wrote: »

3 (+?) weeks of it. I`m ready

http://www.weatheraction.com/displayarticle.asp?a=512&c=5

Thanks, Kittie.

I was going to take the trolley today to get more cartons of UHT milk so will add a few more for the stock-cupboard and have a little conflab with my other supplies just in case.

Thankfully Mum's appt at the big regional hospital an hour's drive from her home was yesterday and the weather was perfect. She was havign daily radiotherapy at the same hospital during the big freeze of Dec 2010 and the snow really added to the stress levels of our family at a difficult time.

Bit disappointed about the weather as I was planning to push on every weekend with the allotment and hoping that in another 1-02 weeks I could squeeze a bit of time after work, but that's life; ya get what ya get and ya hafta get on with it.

Checklist; food, YaxTrax, warm clothes all sorted.

elona

Thanks for the reminder about the weather getting bad.

I need to get dh to drive me for milk and bread to freeze - I can bake my own but family likes sliced stuff for packed lunch and toasties. If market is on this week I will get more eggs and I need to stock up on fruit and veg later this week.

GQ

I have four FB pies but also lots of meat and fish in freezer, loads of tinned tomatoes with garlic, baked beans, tea, coffee, sack of spuds and sack of onions, jars of lentils and soup mix etc. I really appreciate finally having a big kitchen.

I will see about ordering repeat meds online for family and check library books online as well.

GreyQueen

elona, FB pie is planned for my tea. I cook them 3 at a time as they require Gas 8, the only time I ever have the oven on that high.

I eat an FB pie in 2 sittings; leave the second portion in the tin and when it's thoroughly cool, I wrap it in clingfilm and the following day will decant it into the bain marie top part of my steel stacking pan set and warm it through whilst cooking the veggies underneath.

The other two are clingfilmed and frozen, defrosted one at a time and heated half at a time in the bain marie.

I try to use the oven intelligently. Had it dinned into me as a child learning to bake with Mum that you plan what you're cooking and have the oven ready. Have you ever come across recipes which say things like Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (making instructions follow) inc chill in the fridge for 30 mins before rolling out. Gawdsake, your utility bill would power a small country if you were daft enough to take them literally.

I am pleased to report that I now tip the scales at 15 12 not 16 stones, very long way to go but not too shabby for just coming off the chocolate for 8 days, I feel. Whoever makes Aero and Cadbury will be posting profit warnings imminently.....:rotfl:

Better go to w*rk. Have a lovely day, everybody. GQ xx

[Deleted User]

2010 I was so bored after being snowed in for six weeks so I have hobby stuff ready this time. I have becoming a spinning dervish, I can`t get enough of it, started with £7 ebay drop spindle and a bag of prepared fleece and just gone on and on. Will be knitting my first home spun in about 10 days

I sowed broad beans and little gem lettuce last week and all are up, so protection at the ready and also got fleece for pots, just in case, as some big shrubs in pots never recovered after 2010

mardatha

I expected nice sunny crisp weather and woke up to wet dark & yukky. I'm not even looking at seeds or the garden until April because when I go too early I lose everything. I did plant sorrel- whoever mentioned it - but I never saw it. Last year I never saw much!
Think I'll float around youtube watching the Victorian garden stuff today.

[Deleted User]

Morning all, I have to report that the coffee from the stovetop percolator was lovely when it finally brewed but the percolator did not quite boil on the woodstove. I left it on for an hour and a half and it got almost to boiling point but, just not quite. So I popped it on the gas hob and within a minute it was burbbling away. I put it back on the woodstove and it finished in 10 minutes. I shall start off with hot water next time, not cold from the tap. I think it will work better on the OzPig Stove in the garden as that gets very, very hot quickly and the cooking plate is directly above the flames.

KITTIE thanks again for the heads up re snowy and cold weather likely fairly soon. I shall get another couple of packs of dried milk and some more bread flour for the store just to make sure, as I know we will use them in the long run if we don't use them now. Well done with the drop spindle, pictures? please, Cheers Lyn xxx

[Deleted User]

ok its the DM but at long last
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2259942/The-crazy-climate-change-obsession-thats-Met-Office-menace.html

all those billions that have been sucked out of us to combat so called global warming and a a 40 million £ computer :mad:

MrsLW I have to learn how to post pictures first and I`ll have to get a camera. My hair is at scruff point and feels so messy but I am persisting, I am just thinking about all the money I`ll save on haircuts, I am going to have to get some hairbands this week and have stopped using conditioner. Lol it will eventually be so much easier to manage if shtf and I`ll be able to use it to spin rope

It`s blooming gorgeous today and I was expecting rain, I could have washed some bedding, drat

[Deleted User]

Hello KITTIE well done with the hair growing, there are going to be times when you have to say to yourself I will not get it cut!!!!! I had many and wavered often, but then the thought of not having to part with cash for haircuts came back and I'm so very glad I persevered with it, it is so much easier to manage now.

Don't even consider pictures if you have to get a camera, that was inconsiderate of me to ask. It's enough to know you've achieved it and are enoying a new skill, well done you. Stay warm, Cheers Lyn xxx.