THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

Just in from the lottie where I have discovered a very healthy plantain plant lurking in the broad bean patch. Happy days - will be having me some of that later this week.

Re blood tests, I think it's worth remembering (and your medical practicioner will confirm this if you ask), is that any test result is only a snapshot in time. What your internal chemistry was doing at that moment of that day. We're animals not machines and in a constant state of flux.

Similarly, a blood pressure test is also a snapshot. Therefore, before embarking on a medication regime, it would be worth obtaining a series of snapshots to see if there's a pattern or that particular result was a fluke.

My own blood pressure fluctuates between the low end of 'normal' and getting-yelled-at-by-frightened-A&E-nurses to sit down RIGHT NOW.

That particular incident amused me because, although I do sometimes have postural hypotension and get spinny when I stand up, I felt perfectly OK just then. The nurse who'd nearly had a cow, bless her, had seen my BP drop like stone and was sure that nearly 6 ft of patient was about to topple over like a falling redwood in her cubicle.:rotfl:

Things we know for sure; greens are good and ciggies are bad. Getting to bed at a reasonable hour and catching 7-8 hrs of ZZZZZs is great. Meditation has been proven helpful in any number of conditions. Walking is good for you, as is spending happy times with friends and family.

fuddle

A blood test is just a snap shot in time but when I'm in A&E it's at that time that I really want to know what's going on. I don't want anything hiding or giving false clues.

It's also worth noting that with blood test reading mistakes can be made. I was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia by a consultant, sent off to the GP to begin a life time of treatment to find that the consultant had made a mistake by reading the wrong line of results!

My experiences have shaped my thinking and my subsequent behaviour. I've loved educating myself about nutrition. I find it fascinating.

I'm another step closer to implementing my prepping plan. My neighbour has informed me that there is an allotment for me. I can't access it until all the officialdom has been carried out but I'm gathering all my things and cutting up milk bottles into a myriad of different lottie uses. My plot is small and isn't overgrowing as it's been worked. I'm getting a smaller plot that a current holder has been working on. The plot holder has gone for the overgrown plot and I'm pleased. It's massive and a lot of responsibility. I'm just learning so this is an ideal starting point for me. and it's just outside my back door.

Now, I know a bit how to grow on the South coast but I've a lot to learn about growing on a North Eastern hilltop! I'm excited.

[Deleted User]

Fantastic news FUDS, I've just discovered a new set of threads on THE GREENFINGERED MONEY SAVING BOARD which I never knew existed that might come in very handy for you in the next few months, might be worth having a little read xxx.

GreyQueen

:j Congratulations on your allotment, Fuddle! May you have as many happy hours playing in the dirt as I do.

Two serious and life-long conditions of my own, one life-threatening (I'll keep that confidential because it's rather rare and might be a RL identifier) and celiac disease have both been found almost by accident.

As in found by investigations ordered up by registrars, one in a big teaching hospital, one in my GP practice this year. One requires constant medication and one can only be managed by a gluten-free diet. I am busily educating myself about a lot of things related to health and words like microbiome are now part of my vocabulary.:rotfl:

Plus I eat unwashed weeds and greens of my organic lottie. I haven't eaten all the fat hen yet, but I'm working on it. Nom nom nom.......

maryb

I would much rather not take any supplements at all but since I refuse to take bisphosphonates for my osteoporosis this seems like a good compromise.

GQ interesting that you mention micro biome - apparently we can synthesise a small amount of K2 in the gut if conditions are right, and fermented foods which apparently are what your gut microbes go crazy for, are also a source. I just wish I had the nerve to try natto - but I don't:eek::eek: I'll stick to yogurt and sauerkraut. I'm also interested in trying water kefir to make mildly sparkling drinks - has anyone tried that? And do you pronounce it KEEfer or keFEER?

But it doesn't seem right that supplements are needed. Food ought to do it. And exercise. And general sensible living as you say Mrs L

GreyQueen

One of the troubles of modern life is that even virtuous veggies have got a fractoin of the nutrients the exact same kind of veggies woulf have had 50+ years ago. Short version is, if the soil is depleted, the plant is depleted and your diet is depleted. Don't take my word for it, this is scientifically proven. You might be eating exactly the same kind of diet as your parents or grandparents, but not getting the same benefit.

One good reason for eating deeply-rooted weeds like dandelion is that they drag nutrients up from the subsoil where the are normally inaccessible to plant roots.

OK, moles stir up the soil layers (who hasn't seen a mole hill in their veggie patch which is a different colour to the soil around it as the sub-soil has been brought up into the top soil? But farming practices kill moles as the plouging slices 'em up, which is why if your garden is surrounded by agricultural land, the moles will be in your garden.

As told to me by a farmer friend, who has an ongoing feud with the moles on his extensive lawns. Latest score was Pal 94 vs Moles 0 (he shoots them, if you were wondering).

thriftwizard

I make water kefir, maryb, and it's lovely - nicer than anything but ginger beer, which isn't a serious ferment at all, but a grand old Dorset tradition! I generally ferment mine with raisins, lemon, ginger root & sugar, and it tastes pretty much like tart lemonade, and can be almost as fizzy as the ginger beer, which is generally light-the-blue-touchpaper stuff. It's quite quick to make, and the "grains" breed like mad, so I have to keep it in the fridge or we'd be swamped.

Congratulations, Fuddle! We're loving our 'lottie and have brought home some chillis in triumph - ok, they were on the plant when it went in, but they were about 1cm long then & they're 10cm long now! Plus there's a cucumber plumping out nicely, the runner beans have clambered up to the top of their poles and are covered in blossom, and it'll only be a week or two before there's enough Red Russian kale to start picking. There's a LOT of watering to do in this heat, and we're just about furthest away from the pump, but once the (free off Gumtree) shed is up & guttered we can start capturing any water that happens to fall from the sky.

maryb

I love ginger beer and that's why I thought water kefir (however you pronounce it) would have the same "real" taste. There's a depth to it you just don't get with HFCS sweetened fizzy drinks

DigForVictory

I'm told it's pronounced keh-Feeer - and if it tastes like ginger beer, please lay out how in near idiot proof steps?
I love the stuff but my last attempt exploded. <blush>

simplelivingcottage

Hello all,

Popping in to say that I'm just going back and reading the thread with glee. I'm not much of a prepper if at all, unless having jam stored is counted? We never have problems over here with electric/water and if we do they seem to be fixed within a couple of hours and it's normally at work when you don't notice. What I am wanting to prep for is generally a loss of job (just encase) and also I want to get into the old style of living. Foraging for food, growing my own, making do ect ect. So hoping to get a few good tips