THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

[Deleted User]

Wind is absolutely howling here.

maryb

I think Eastern Europeans will still come for temporary work but they won't come for a couple of years at a time. If there's very little money to be made in rural villages, why wouldn't they? And the government have already said there will be targeted arrangements for agricultural workers.
So that doesn't worry me so much as the prospect of poor harvests leading to food price inflation. And if we are going into a solar minimum which some meteorologists seem to think we may be, then a poor summer would not be a one-off. BUT having said that, we went through a solar minimum which ended in the early 19th century and it was only additional cooling caused by volcanic eruption that caused the year without a summer in, I think, 1813. Other years didn't see complete harvest failures

[Deleted User]

There are many more mouths of population to feed in 2018 than there were in 1813 though even here in the UK and we have very much tectonic plate movement in the world which is contributory to volcanic activity in many areas. All we need is a failed 'summer' combined with a big eruption say in Yellowstone National Park or even Krakatoa which is apparently active too, Etna, Vesuvius even the Icelandic one that caused the mayhem, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines or any of the Hawaiian or Alaskan biggies and you've the same set of circumstances with the same if not greater results and many more people all scrabbling for sustenance in any form they can lay their hands on, not attractive as a prospect is it?

maryb

No, not attractive at all:eek: That would be a complete game changer, of course. But I prep to minimise inconvenience and short term disruption rather than catastrophe. I got very anxious a few years back and a bit overwhelmed by everything that "could" happen. I used to think that prepping for everything would help - but it didn't help me.

[Deleted User]

It isn't feasible or sensible to try and prep for all possibilities that 'might' happen, I only try for a little security and self sufficiency should some of the things that have a chance of happening occur. I'm not anxious about the future and what is out of my control I try to think ahead of any likely to happen events like disruptive weather, winter illnesses, power failures etc. and much of what I do is common sense anyway like having the good stock cupboard, as much wood as we can aquire and meds enough to make a trip to the pharmacy unnecessary in the case of flu etc. Having the right equipment and clothing too takes anxiety away to a degree but the best peace of mind comes from knowledge and skills and knowing how to apply those skills if you need them. It's one thing being able to identify flint and another entirely in being able to work it into a useful tool and strike a spark isn't it?

Karmacat

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Is anyone else planning on getting in a very good stock of tinned fruit and veg just in case we get some crop failures or shortages this year? Given that most tins have at least a couple of years on just the 'best before' date it seems only prudent as a prepper to do so. It's probably worth making the decision and acting on it now before inevitable price rises happen later on!

I *will* be, I'm finalising my sorting out this week. Fruit is likely to be dried fruit (currants and sultanas) as well as tinned. And dried peas and beans are perfectly acceptable as a hedge against high food prices.

maryb wrote: »

I tend to stock up the freezer in the autumn and at that time I buy the sort of frozen veg I find useful to supplement the seasonal stuff. Eg carrots,leeks and cabbage are nearly always available throughout the winter and I buy a sack of maincrop potatoes.

I'd love to do that, but I don't trust my fridge/freezer. It seems to freeze too hard in the fridge, and not enough in the freezer. So I've been experimenting with the dehydrator last week - dehydrated a kilo of bananas, and people rave about them as chips but I really didn't like them ... however, as a change, and as a spacesaver because they're dried, they're brilliant.

They did make the dehydrator trays really dirty, though, I've had to cook up a way to soak the trays, not just wash them, and thats more difficult than it sounds for me. I've got a very old cat litter tray (as in, more than 10 years old!) and it will take the dehydrator trays beautifully. Problem sorted I've got a supermarket delivery coming on Tuesday, and I'll up the amount of frozen veg considerably, to dehydrate it. Asda are once again doing frozen broccoli at 95p/kg, which is brilliant.

mardatha

Dried fruit is also great with oats and syrup in flapjacks... all easy to store.
I don't stress over veg - can't freeze too much as we get powercuts often. But instead of filling the house with tins of peas and beans I think for us, eating veg in season would be the way to go. I know nobody will believe me but I do buy, and grow, the green stuff. It grows fine here, is full of iron, and is handy in soup. And there would always be something growing here that you could throw into a soup or stew pot.

Saipan

I posted a while ago about how worried farmers are by the loss of skilled agricultural workers from the EU - both by what we are seeing now and in the future (we are a farming family). A couple of weeks later there was a debate in the Commons saying pretty much the same thing. But nothing has happened. From our perspective, there is nobody in government listening to us.


Vague statements about special arrangements for agricultural workers (and others - hospitality and finance have also been mentioned, and I think nursing and academia/universities?) are of no use without clear policies agreed at ministerial level, ideally with appropriate legislation in development. This is just not happening. Farming is not an industry where we can wait until the last minute to decide what we do next year. And there is always uncertainty as the government makes statements and then things change or do not pan out as people believed they would - the position our fishing industry has found itself in recently is a prime example of this.


I can only speak on a personal level but the Eastern European workers we know are doubtful about returning to work in the UK as they need certainty too so that they can plan their lives.


DigforVictory - farmers are seeing theft of equipment and stock on a scale that I, for one, cannot remember previously. Large machinery that costs thousands is being stolen by what appears to be well-organised groups who do not seem worried about being seen (or caught). The loss of the animals is more distressing to me but is less likely to put us out of business.


Mardatha - thanks for the reminder of happy memories strawberry picking as a child. I was four or five when I started - before that my job was feeding the hens. My kids and their cousins all worked their way through school and college/uni earning money on the farm - no privileges, the same pay and hours as everyone else.


So - yes to prepping with extra veg and fruit stores if you can, just in case. A voluntary project I am involved in offers goods bought in bulk at a discount warehouse for sale to people on low/fixed incomes who do not have transport and are limited to small, more expensive local shops. If you only want to buy one loo roll, you buy just the one, but at the discounted price. For those who have little space and/or insecure housing, we are setting up shared storage in a community building - a bit like a bank account but for shelf stable foods and household goods.

thriftwizard

Saipan, thank you, that's really food for thought... I have a dehydrator, I can ferment & preserve, I have lots of airtight bottles & jars, I have access to lots of decent cheap fruit & veg - I'll get cracking.

And when it comes to volcanoes, there's no telling. It's highly unlikely that Yellowstone will ever be able to do anything much again, as its magma chamber, though huge, is believed to be cooling & solidifying, but one of the Icelandic volcanoes (Öraefajökull) seems to be ramping up to do something in the near future. However, that's a "near future" in geological time... I'm fascinated by volcanoes, but I refuse to worry about them. Though the scientists are doing a fantastic job, we're a long way from really being able to predict most volcanoes with any accuracy & you can't live your life in terror of something that may or may not happen.

[Deleted User]

tbh, all this is unnecessary scaremongering and stirring. We are simply going back to the weather we used to have ie more cold and varied but our home growns will have to reflect that ie the os non-exotic fruit and veg. Cabbages, potatoes, raspberries. This sort of diet is far better for us, what we have evolved to eat and yes we go back to fermenting, dehydrating and glass greenhouses to grow the most exotic ie tomatoes and cucumbers. It is about time we stopped growing crops for fuel, used our own farmland and got the able unemployed back to work, picking crops. Farmers and arable subsidies are to blame for most of the farming ills. Lets get back to basics and we, the uk will survive and thrive