THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

silverwhistle

Thanks. I make Sloe Gin, Genepi' and Limoncello - well, actually Arancino/Limoncello based on the gifting of some organic untreated oranges from a friend. I wonder if I could make Filbert liqueur using Kentish Filberts? The 95% alcohol certainly does a good job in extracting the essences before you add the water.

I've also got 4 dozen bottles of wine assembled over a year or two, plus a 5 litre wine box I really must use up! Perhaps I get a bonus point for all those!

GreyQueen

silverwhistle, we may be batty, but you have to admit, we can be entertaining, no? And you are coming up on the Prep-o-meter Score quite nicely yourself.:rotfl:

I find prepping just part of my lifestyle, it isn't something I woke up one day and decided to do. I do archery because it's big fun and my american flat bow (made in sherwood forest!) is an object of deep beauty.

I do have some concerns that if I end up deceased abruptly and family weren't around to empty this flat, strangers would have a very straaaange impression of me. But, I guess, like having clean underwear on, it won't be my problem to worry about.:rotfl:

As an allotmenteer, I do find that it has become something of a middle-class lifestyle choice. And that plenty of newbies fail early on when the find that veggie gardening involves hard work, in sometimes inclement weather. I saw one gardening book, of the type which is heavy on the photographs and light on the content, in which a lady was pictured in many shots in Birkenstock sandals and with a basket.

I thought you'd be a bliddy idiot to garden in those, I have a special pair of steel-toed Docs which live at the allotment to protect my feet from the tools and the grunge. Allotmenteering can be more like clearing the wilderness than swaying around a mature flowergarden hip-deep in hollyhocks to be photo'd fetchingly for a coffee table book.

monnagran

Like the lady who said that the only way to garden was to wear a shady hat, hold a long cold drink and tell the man where to dig.

mardatha

Oh wow monna, that does sound like my kind of gardening.... got a wee idea what the man's answer might be if I tried it though
I've stocked up on salt, we need a lot of salt for the path and back step. Got the snow shovels out of the loft, got the bike into the spare room (don't ask lol) and got my sainsbugs basics tins of veg in.
Really hoping for better health next spring so I can get that garden planted up. Howling winds and pelting rain here, and 10C.

silverwhistle

GreyQueen wrote: »

silverwhistle, we may be batty, but you have to admit, we can be entertaining, no?

Indeed! My post was in the same spirit and all true!

I've often fancied getting myself a long bow, with a decent pull (35lbs perhaps?) to take advantage of the natural strength of my wood-prepping torso. To avoid one boob getting too big I try and use my bow saw with alternate hands. :-)

But on the subject of close range, easily carried urban weapons my girlfriend and I came up with a new one last week. After trying a teeny bit one of my chillies from the garden she ended up over my sink making strange noises, running the tap, washing her mouth and dripping mucus from her nose. Our answer is a lemon squeezy bottle full of juice and my macerated chilli - no idea of the variety,

This would also be useful for those late night tubes with unpleasant sexually incontinent men on them..

So there we are. A constructive suggestion for the thread. <big grin>.

ivyleaf

GQ The best flower gardening book I have is by Helen Yemm. It's called "Gardening In Your Nightie" and has no pictures at all

It got its title from the thing some people have of nipping outside first thing, before getting dressed, to see how the garden is getting on, and to do a quick bit of deadheading while you're there. My neighbours used to do that when they were younger; I was up early one summer morning and there they were out in their (back) garden at 6 a.m., she in her nightie and he in his stripy jammies

silverwhistle

GreyQueen wrote: »

As an allotmenteer, I do find that it has become something of a middle-class lifestyle choice. .

Incidentally, yes, when did that happen? In my grandparents' day it was a much needed dietary supplement, even before the rationing years of the 40s.

As for Aga's, why did such an expensive and impractical tool become such a fantasy object of desire? More like a fetish indeed. It's one thing wearing your rubber cat-suit to 6 monthly special events, but having an Aga is like putting it on every day!

Si_Clist

ivyleaf wrote: »

It got its title from the thing some people have of nipping outside first thing, before getting dressed, to see how the garden is getting on ...

Round here, some of the chattering classes do that to put their bins out.

No shame, some of 'em ...

westcoastscot

8 degrees and wild here - boat off today as blowing a gale - its typical scottish weather, beautifully sunny one minute then massive hail showers the next!
Stove's ticking away nicely though and soup's on the hob, so all's well with the world!
Like you Mar i'm hoping for better health next year to get the garden planted - useless this year since I missed the first half of the year - we've done ok with fruit, but not much else. I'm going to spend the winter making the garden easier, with paths between the beds etc, so if i'm ill again in the spring it's an easier job.

mardatha

Same sort of day here WCS. And that's a good idea, maybe if I feel up to it I could re-organise mine as well. I really miss my own tatties this year. I know this is bad for my image- but I even grew the green stuff for a couple of years - hid the bloody stuff in soup where I couldn't see it.
Would like to grow mushrooms but don't know how hard/easy it is.
Trying to juggle now between saving cash and stocking up tins for winter - I don't trust the freezer for much because we get a lot of power cuts.