Prepping for Brexit thread

silvasava

Long time lurker here
Although I was born just after the war rationing was still in place. Lots of our neighbours kept hens for the eggs and the table, another bred rabbits for the meat.. We lived next to the sea so local fish figured and we used to go 'cockling' in the mud. I know my grandmother used to give my mum her cheese ration for me - 2ozs per week if memory serves. I can eat that in a sitting easily!! As for leftovers being reheated - if there were any (unusual!) it certainly wouldnt be wasted. I remember my mum making what she called Scallops - slices of potato dipped in batter and deep fried - I loved them and thought they were 'special' as we didnt get them often. Years later she told me she only made them when there as nothing in the larder and no money or coupons. Must have been heartwrenching for her to feed a child like that.
 Todays lunch here will consist of the leftover chicken fajita extended with some mushrooms that are going over and made into a fritata of some sort. Little waste in this household!

VJsmum

Ooh cockling - wonderful activity, haven't done it for years (mainly due to no longer living by the sea ).  Can't stand eating them though...
Used to buy scallops with my school dinner money

DigForVictory

Scallops were unknown to me til I got to university, & while technically they are last-penn'orth food, they were still a treat to me.
A work colleague turns out to have been taught to prune fruit bushes properly (goblet shape) & while he didn't reckon that was a marketable skill, I did. Today I gather he's got several appointments with various gardens & will collect his pay from the corner shop (likely in cigarettes, but everyone's happy.)

monnagran

As someone who lived through that time I can second the opinion that it wasn't as cheerful as it's often portrayed to be.
My mother always maintained that my dislike of meat stems from the appalling meat that was on offer in the forties.
We were lucky in that in the year before the war, and the first year of their married life, my father organised the garden, built a greenhouse and a chicken run.  So I grew up eating vegetables, fruit and eggs., so very healthy.  I still, over 80 years later, prefer cheese and eggs to meat and fish.
As for carbohydrates, flour was never rationed or potatoes as far as I can remember.  But flour needed other ingredients to make it edible, and there was the problem.  Even if they weren't rationed they  were often not available. Bread was certainly rationed after the war when we were helping to feed the hungry people of a ruined Europe.  I think people tend to forget that as well as, and in some cases instead of, rebuilding our own country we played a big part in rebuilding  the lives of our recent enemies.  But that's quite enough of that.

missychrissy

I was born in 1952. I can’t remember rationing. I grew up well fed. My dad was an engineer for the National Coal Board (qualifications gained at evening school as he was made to leave school at 14) and he grew lots of fruit and veg on an allotment. My mother was a stay at home mum and cooked, cleaned, knitted, sewed, crochet etc. I remember Christmas was special. I remember one year I got a doll’s bed and wardrobe to fit my 14 in doll. I remember thinking it was strange that Santa matched the doll’s bed quilt to the one on my parents bed. I realised years later that my father had made the wardrobe and bed and my mother had made the bedding. I was well dressed, my mother made my clothes and knitted my woolies. They were both inventive, creative, hard working and skilled. These are skills we need to encourage and teach the younger generations. 

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

I was just having a sort through the cupboard under the stairs and thought I would say if anyone is wanting to stock up on cleaning products to have a look at ocean saver pods. I have been using them for a while as I wanted to cut down on plastic but reading this thread I realised that people might want to stock up but not have much room. They each come in a box about the size of a box of matches and you drop the pod into a spray bottle of warm water. I've got a few in reserve and they take up next to no room. Worth a look if you are short on space. 

[Deleted User]

This morning we lifted the first of the new potatoes from the garden and the potatoes are very small and there are not many on the plant.  I have a couple of rows of main crop in that won't be lifted until later on unless we get blight but I don't think I can rely on the good crop I was banking on to see us through the first part of the winter on the result of today.  I'm going to up the amount of tinned potatoes I thought I'd need to go into the store and get more instant mash too in case commercial crops are tiny and small amounts too.  It might be because of the hot weather earlier on and the lack of rain and they may catch up if we get enough water down until the harvest but I think more tins just in case might make sense.

missychrissy

The first pot of spuds I dug up in mid June was the same but all the other pots and sacks I’ve dug up have been much better. I don’t know whether I was unlucky first time or the extra bit of time made the difference.

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

Our first earlys where the same. There was barely enough to make a meal. Hopefully the second earlies will be better. 

VJsmum

I think i will have to go potato less if there is an issue - haven't really got space to grow them so didn't bother, can't stand tinned or instant...  although Jack monroe did a tinned potato 'thing' in her first book that i actually did one with tinned potatoes and another one with fresh and the tinned were better.  Maybe i'll get a couple of tins...  My niece calls them 'camping potatoes' cos they only ever had them when camping.