The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

Siebrie

boultdj said:

Nice to see you posting GQ, have fun with the cold steel.
Got hold of some more potting compost, 12 cucumber and 54 tomatoe plant's have joined the courgette plant's in the greenhouse, will see what survives, and any we don't need will be offered on the village facebook page, fingers crossed they grow like crazy.

Our garden centres and DIY stores are allowed to reopen from Saturday! I'm so happy, as I am desperate for some proper growing compost. I would also like to buy a selffertilising blueberry bush and ericaceous compost (and maybe a pot; or could I just dig a large hole, fill it with the ericaceous compost and put the bush in?).

dandy-candy

Siebrie - you lucky thing! No sign of our garden centres opening yet and i really miss going.

The supermarkets are still poorly stocked by me. We managed to get baked beans for the first time in ages, but there has been no flour of any kind for over a month now. They seem well stocked for fresh meat, veg and frozen stuff but tin food, bin bags and cleaning stuff are very hard to find. Apparently i’m in the minority when it comes to eating orange club biscuits - they never sell out of those

I’m prepping long term but not for covid,  i’m actually worrying about the economic crash that they say is coming. They say it will be worse that the depression in the 1930s. I would be planting veg like mad but all seed selling places are shut and there is a several week delay on dispatch from online places. Luckily my rhubarb is huge atm so im going to freeze a big batch.

jk0

I noticed veg seeds at my Waitrose the other day.

thriftwizard

dandy-candy, seed-wise I've been planting the free seeds on the front of gardening magazines to fill in the "holes" in my seed-store! OK they're not wildly exciting varieties, but fairly reliable, and whatever I'm not using I've put aside for swaps. I've also found that some of the smaller companies & ebay sellers of seeds haven't had a problem, though I see some are limiting the amount of time that their shopping carts are "live" during each day to control the number of orders coming in.

I've gone & run out of compost now... there's plenty of home-made, but it's not all properly rotted down yet so not suitable for seeds. I drove to the next town following a tip-off that Wilko's had some, but they'd sold out before I got there. Ah well, I'll manage somehow!

boultdj

I got my compost from Lidl, seed's I'm glad to say, I've got a good stock of, runner beans and peas are planned for next, might even do some broad beans, it's now coming down to tubs to plant into.

bluesooz

I got lots of compost from wickes via click and collect - ordered it and had text 5 minutes later to say it was ready for collection.  

DawnW

A local garden centre is offering delivery of compost here, so it might be worth checking out the ones in your area if you are having problems. Had to pay for delivery, but it was a one off, ie one delivery charge for each order, whatever the size, so I stocked up with all I will need for the rest of this year, and the start of next, probably, which made the £10 charge a bit more palatable. I am not supposed to go out at all at the moment due to health conditions, so no choice to go out looking for some. Great service though, a good choice of various types, paid over the phone, delivered next day, they left it where requested (no contact needed), and I was pleased to be able to support a local business at this difficult time. Not sure what others think, but local businesses in this area are really stepping up, local butchers offering delivery service (or collection, and they are great, prices compare well with supermarkets, no queues and fully stocked), milkman, local pubs converting to 'farm shops' and takeaways offering delivery to keep going while they can't be pubs (I got flour from one of these the other day), and little local corner shops, ours had loo rolls during all the nonsense going on in the supermarkets.

MingVase

I'm stuck up in the hills with no seeds and no compost.

GreyQueen

Compost is hard to find in my city, too, but there are known to be 4 indy garden centres locally who will deliver for a modest fee. Probably similiar situations pertain elsewhere as the indy businesses try to stay afloat? I did get a delivery of paint from a local hardware store who'd put a shout-out on social media about trying to stay open and they brought it to my door. Very pleased, have been doing in-person business with them for 30 odd years, hope to be shopping there in person in the future.

Today, will be finishing off two face masks and thinking about starting another one, all from cloth, fusible interfacing and elastic already on the premises. Thank goodness for the Stash.

Siebrie

I read somewhere that if you are desperate for seeds, why not buy the veg at the supermarket, and use the contents to start of your own? It would work for tomatoes and paprika, later on for pumpkins. Would that work for beans, or do those need to be dried first?