THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

GreyQueen

Would something along the line of a camping kitchen, http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-elite-kitchen-stand-p194456 be any help?

Or, as you are going to have this situation for 4-5 weeks, could you buy/ scrounge a cheap stainless-steel sink& draining board and mount it into a rough table of some sorts, with a bucket underneath to catch the slops?

Being able to use a sink this way is better than nothing, even if your water is being drawn off a carrier, and gives a modicum of normality in a difficult time.

You may be able to get something cheaply or even on freegle if you put a want out there. HTH.

We had snow for a few hours, then rain, the snow melted and has all run away. It's still baltic out there, dunno what to expect over the next few hours but I'm home in the warm and happy to be here.

Hope everyone is well.

culpepper

Jazee Can you not use the bathroom for water and washing up?
When we did our kitchen we moved all the electrical appliances to the dining room..I think we had a sandwich toaster (good for pasties as well as sarnies),ordinary toaster , a deep fat fryer, a microwave and a kettle. If you can leave the window open for ventilation, a butane stove from a camping shop feels just the same as cooking on a normal gas hob.The ones with the little tins are very simple to use. Have a plastic washing up bowl and just take it all to the bathroom to wash or boil the kettle to get the hot water and wash up,then empty into outside drain.

Si_Clist

Jazee, to clarify, are we talking of the kitchen being gutted (i.e. the walls, ceiling and services remain), or are you going to be completely kitchenless (i.e. the room ceases to exist)?

[Deleted User]

Just an idle thought on my part perhaps but on the 20th of January president elect Trump will presumably become President Trump of the United States of America and I really wonder just what will happen then? I'm not filled with confidence by the news footage I've been seeing of late and I am very concerned indeed about the guy yesterday saying they needed to 'confront' Vladimir Putin and the Russians, we need that kind of addition to the problems already besetting vast areas of the planet like we need the plague!

moneyistooshorttomention

Jazee wrote: »

I have to prep for some major refurbishment works on the house which means no kitchen for four/five weeks. So any hints and tips on how to live with bottled water, kettle, microwave etc, meals to have would be appreciated. We will have moved our fridge/freezer into the living room.

Well - I've just sent for a 2 ring portable electric hotplate - for when my kitchen gets replaced at some point soon. At least - with 2 rings to work with still - I can manage my morning porridge and meals like soup or stirfry or the like.

Not looking forward to it one little bit - particularly as I'm currently wondering whether I might have to use a firm that will make it from scratch (and I mean totally from scratch:eek:). So I could have to do a Project Supervisor role on various workmen - again:eek::eek:

So - my little hotplate thing has cost me £25 from Amazon. There are cheaper - but the reviews didnt sound good. Still - I guess £25 isnt too bad - for the fact I may have to spend some weeks using it and then I'll probably be lending it to a friend of mine (ie because she'll probably also do her kitchen soon). So - I'm suggesting you might like to get one too.

EDIT; Just checked - the portable hotplate thingy I'm awaiting is a Duronic Portable Cooker - £24.99. It looks nice enough too to use as supplementary cooking facility subsequently too if I want.

Jazee

Some good ideas there preppers, given me food for thought, particulary the camping stove thing as I can keep windows open. The kitchen, bathroom and downstairs loo are being gutted. We are told there will be one working toilet at all times, and that at night we will be left with a sink to use (but it could just be the tiny one in the downstairs loo!).

Will be all good fun. Have to spend the next week moving stuff about the house, packing everything up and even clearing a path in the loft for access from above to the bathroom. Then there will be all the electrical testing.

[Deleted User]

Given the predictions for price rises in all areas this year I've gotten us off on the road of walking rather than taking the bus or car whenever it's close enough to do so and we're still only using the stove for heating (been a tad parky over the past few days too!). Food wise we've decided to cut down on processed made foods and base our meals round things we know we can grow for ourselves so that we're used to a slightly different diet before price hikes make it a necessity not a choice. It's helping us to lose weight which is great and we're having far less bread and fats and sugars in our diet now, strange that things I'd have said were central to and the most enjoyable part of the food we eat are almost gone and not missed. Meat is still in the diet but in much reduced quantities, cheese almost (but not quite) gone and we're eating more fish so perhaps what we've got now is a diet suited to an island lifestyle? Should prices take some items totally out of our grasp I think we'll still have tasty meals from what we can produce ourselves and make at home.

GreyQueen

Good thinking, lyn.

For my lottie growing plans for 2017, I really want to suceed with outdoor cucumbers, as I eat 3 shop-bought ones per week. As well as saving food miles and packaging waste (those pesky polythene sleeves they come sealed in), home-grown would save me about £1.40 per week for each week I can cover my own needs.

I will also be doing more sucessional planting, including getting another late batch of beetroots, the last of which I harvested in late December - that batch were sown July 7th.

I think it's good to be as self-reliant as possible, and matching your diet to your climate has much to recommend it, although we've all become accustomed to having the world's food within our reach and everything available 365 days a year, regardless of growing seasons.

Quick Q for the gardeners (will be out for several hours from now btw).

I am intending to plant an apple tree in the next 12 months (have to clear and prepare its spot first). As per allotment regs, it will have to be on a dwarf stock, but I am soliciting opinions as to varieties.

For flavour and texture, I prefer Cox's apples, are they a good choice for the home gardener, or is there something similar which would be better?

The tree will be in suvvern ingerland, in full sun, but on a site with a relatively high elevation compared to the surrounds and catching the wind. TIA.

[Deleted User]

GQ you might consider something like a James Grieve, Newtons Wonder or even a Crispin all of which are dual purpose apples in that they ripen in storage and become usable as an eating apple later in the year. You can use them to cook in the autumn when eating apples are at their most prolific and therefore cheaper to buy and they ripen nicely in storage to eat when eaters are more expensive. When we lived in Kent we rented an apple tree each year from an enterprising local farmer who tended it for us through the year and contacted us when it was time to pick. We got the entire crop which was usually over 600lbs of fruit so we formed a group with a couple of families we knew and split it equally between us. This tree was a Crispin and I'd still be using perfectly good fruit, although a little wrinkled, in April most years, they stay good in store very well. Hope that helps.

thriftwizard

GQ, Cox's are a very good all-rounder & keep very well in a cool, dry space. I know lots of people with a Cox or two lurking at the bottom of the garden, so I suspect they're not "difficult" trees. We have a big & very old Blenheim Orange - superb flavour, but becomes "woolly" very quickly and only good for cooking thereafter, but will keep until March - an Ashmead's Kernel - good flavour, keeps well - an Egremont Russet - decent flavour, keeps OK, but prone to insect attack - and a Worcester - early, very pretty, unpleasantly sweet, but the birds like it - as well as a couple of quinces and a couple of little crab apples. All grown without chemicals in a smallish urban garden, so you can guess what my favourite fruit is! And that this is a good area for top fruit...

Your best bet is to find some people with more than one apple tree on their plot/garden and ask them what does well in your area; some good varieties are very "local" and not at all well-known outside their locality. Even then, something that grows well won't necessarily suit your particular tastes - that's how we ended up with the little Worcester!