THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

DigForVictory

An Olive Jar Mountain - hm, suddenly the whole mountaineering lark seems more rewarding.

Although I do appreciate the view is amazing, I find the desperate wheezing, the "sunspots" due to lack of oxygen & the general "and now we do the Really tough bit - back Down that severe slope" spoils some of the fun. However, I've lived 2/3rds of the way up a Brecon Beacon so I'm utterly spoiled.

May your mountain thrive!

GreyQueen

DigForVictory wrote: »

An Olive Jar Mountain - hm, suddenly the whole mountaineering lark seems more rewarding.

Although I do appreciate the view is amazing, I find the desperate wheezing, the "sunspots" due to lack of oxygen & the general "and now we do the Really tough bit - back Down that severe slope" spoils some of the fun. However, I've lived 2/3rds of the way up a Brecon Beacon so I'm utterly spoiled.

May your mountain thrive!

Thank you, it has thriven by an extra 4 jars in the last hour, and the irritating niche down the side which is a bit too small for another jar turns out to be perfikt for those cartons of passata. So I stashed two in there.


In coming weeks, I will fill the box until it is a solid lump, lay something concealing over the top layer, then park Henri d'Vac on top. It is, after all, his cupboard.


I feel your pain on the Descent, my knees do not like going downhill. They're unkeen on going up hill, either, these days. I tend to plan my cycle journeys with a topo map, aiming for the smallest gradients.


Well, no point in getting older if you don't get more devious.;)

DigForVictory

GreyQueen wrote: »

no point in getting older if you don't get more devious.

A thought meriting its own T shirt, I feel.
There's got to be a niche for the intelligent statement shirt?!

ziggy2004

I have actually never tried the tinned olives, I love olives though so going to give it a try!

Still not sorted out my pantry ( well DH has to clear out the tools he has been storing in there I have done most of the rest)

My jam is up to 36 jars stored now and there should be a good bramble crop coming too!

DigForVictory

Out of curiosity, what do you *wear* bramble picking? As I wear a lifejacket (when picking along the canal from a canoe) or an old bike leather when picking with both feet on solid ground.

I do love canal picking - more fruit, less contamination from passing critters, fewer competitors & often cooler temperatures. The downside of course is the risk of capsizing & losing all you have picked! As part of a team/family effort though, well worth it.

My aunt introduced a canoe as a way of keeping a rather too active toddler restrained & happy and was startled to find child blackberry smudged despite being towed along - figured it & then swapped toddler for longer limbed family members who were expected to keep tabs on the paddle as well as pick. Worth considering for anyone near bramble bushes along canals or wade-able waterways.

Reminded by GQ's dehydration slideshow link, my herbs never look that pretty but ye gods they still taste good. Off to find awake enough child to lift dehydrator down for me.

Cheapskate

I have a fridge full (literally!) of apples I harvested before last weekend's downpour, and that's on top of the bag full I gave next door, and what's still on the tree! All still ok, so they'll be in the slow cooker in batches to freeze. I have loads of brambles in the freezer, so they'll be coming out to make jam, will take up less storage space, and some I'll add the apples to. Current brambles just about ready here, and elderberries, so that will be next week's harvesting job - feel like a squirrel!! :rotfl:

Our rosehips look fab, just need some more sunshine, and then I'll have a go at rosehip syrup - anyone got a tried-and-tested recipe they'd care to share? . A friend of mine was given some HM stuff once, and we tried a splash of it in some fizz - lovely!! :beer:

Well, our mortgage payments will be going up shortly, so the belt tightening I've just begun will have to go up another notch! :eek: I've been on our local freecycle to ask for any clean wood going spare, a few kind offers already, so that will be another job for next week - lovely peeps around here.

I've also been adding to the stores of coffee, olive oil, tinned fish/meat, stealthily, so it's only a few quid per shopping trip, and slowly getting back to a place where I don't feel anxious about the low level of stocks - see squirrel comment above! :rotfl:

Yesterday, I worked with a friend at our food festival, will do a few more hours today, and last week did some veg prep for her, and she's paying me in hard cash after the festival - first money I've earned in 5+ years!! Already "spent" though, but on sensible stuff (diesel, trousers for youngest DS) with a bit leftover for my emergency stash in the cupboard.

Sorry to ramble...!

ETA: DfV - always long sleeves and long trousers, never sandals but closed toes, long stick/rake/thingy for reaching distant branches - ask me how I know!! :rotfl:

A xo

[Deleted User]

I've got a proper pressure canner, imported from Germany but American made which is still in it's box unopened as I don't possess a gas ring big enough to heat the water in it to the right temperature BUT when we move (if ever that actually happens!) I'm inheriting a Range Master stove with a Wok Burner which WILL be big enough and hot enough to heat the water and run the canner so I will be trying it out to see if I can actually bottle veg and meat safely. I know great care has to be taken to avoid botulism in both so it will be a 'follow instructions to the last dotted 'i' but if it works it will mean that I can 'can' the other halves of stews and casseroles that are meant to serve 4 people and not have a freezer full of Tupperware boxes. It will also mean that things don't get forgotten in the fridge and have to be thrown out so will save me money too.

mardatha

Oh wow I forgot all about coffee, need to start stashing that. On bad days, triple strength espresso is the only thing that stands between me and death.
Re olives, I don't think I've ever seen one nevermind tasted one. And likewise sloes, and damsons.

ziggy2004

I wear long sleeves, trousers and my walking boots for brambling. We live near a forest park so plenty of brambles far away from roads to be found. The baby is restrained in a sling on my back ( note to self do use a black sling this year so there is no risk of staining)

Apples still on the tree here and will be for at least another month.

I desperately need to source more jars though as I only have one left!!

maryb

Mrs L I have a pressure canner and yes, it was nerve racking to start with but now I feel a lot more confident. I use it mainly for chicken stock but I also do big batches of chilli con carne and spag bol, plus the tomato base for different curry sauces. Once I got my head round the fact that you don't over tighten the screw band it helped a lot. The air in the jar above the food level has to vent so the seal can't be completely air tight to start with. The role of the screw band is just to keep the sealing disc in contact with the glass, the vacuum which forms as the jar cools pulls it down and forms the seal.

I buy Ball preserving jars from Hobbycraft, they do them for a good price. If you sign up to their loyalty card you get a good discount on your first purchase so that might be worth doing to get in a stock of jars to start you off. They don't do replacement lids - I get those from Lakeland. I prefer the Ball ones because they have plainer discs with room to write on with a Sharpie whereas the Kilner ones have got such a busy design you can't see what you have written. Also the Ball labels wash off easily without having to use anything to dissolve the adhesive

If you have the type that doesn't have a gasket (All American) it's a bit tricky to get the lid on evenly all the way round. If it's a bit skewiff it can lose pressure. It would be worth getting HWK to make some spacers for you so you know when it's level

Hope this helps - hours of fun.