THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

[Deleted User]

Have you room for a couple of cold frames? the aluminium ones are only a couple of feet high and if you positioned them with the back against a wall and anchored the sides down perhaps with tent pegs it would give you some protection and shelter.

mardatha

You sound like you've got winds like I have up here. Polytunnels don't last week and garden fences are always flattened. Only thing that works is a hedge.

westcoastscot

Yes it's really windy - I use wind netting all around the garden, and around each bed - that helps a lot - but it can all be wiped out in a good gale.
Have you seen the book Fruit & Vegetables for Scotland, by Cox & Beaton?It's really good for us, very practical in looking at ways to garden in a short, wet, windy season, and the pics are fantastic! Lots of small windy gardens defying nature :-)

mardatha

Oh that sounds good, will go and look for that book, ta

ivyleaf

I can't find it now, but someone in Spain connected with vegetable-growing (sorry, I can't even recall whether it was a grower or a member of their govt ) was interviewed for the paper and said the weather there was last like this about 15 years ago.

karcher

ivyleaf wrote: »

I can't find it now, but someone in Spain connected with vegetable-growing (sorry, I can't even recall whether it was a grower or a member of their govt ) was interviewed for the paper and said the weather there was last like this about 15 years ago.

I've heard the same. Especially in the south. Far more rain and much colder temperatures than is the norm.

I think the weather does go in cycles. Last year El nino had a big effect on the weather. It's only really in recent years that slight variations have been recorded and taken note of.

Certainly in my lifetime it seems that weather patterns and seasons have changed and shifted.

But our planet is constantly moving and in a state of flux. I think it is hardly surprising that over time things change...for the better or worse though, who knows?

JamesO

karcher wrote: »

But our planet is constantly moving and in a state of flux. I think it is hardly surprising that over time things change...for the better or worse though, who knows?

https://xkcd.com/1732/

Winchelsea

westcoasts...
I think one thing that's happening is that the polar ice caps are melting. This releases cold (very cold) water into the oceans. It sinks to the bottom because it is denser, and this somehow makes the Gulf Stream change its path. The Gulf Stream delivers warm air to countries it flows near. So, it seems, some normally cold places are getting warmed up by it, while others are no longer getting the Gulf Stream so are having unusual cold.
That's what I think I've understood! It does seem to make sense though.

westcoastscot

Thanks Winchelsea, that makes perfect sense to me, thank you for explaining it in a way I can understand! I knew about the ice caps melting but couldn't quite figure how that would affect us here, but of course here on the west coast we're very much affected by the gulf stream - we have palm trees! It probably means that the past couple of years are not an anomaly then and we won't be getting "back to normal" - this will be the new normal????

DigForVictory

Subject to the usual caveats, I think I have now seen everything.

How's this for a prepper doll?!
I mean, I'm awed at the detail (where *did* they find those informative handkerchiefs?!) but frankly I'd rather be out TWOC-ing a pony.

(I've read up on camels. When TEOTWIN, then OK. Til then, a pony will do fine, thanks.)