The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

[Deleted User]

I feel your pain greenbee! 🙈 another busy day in the garden here - framework pretty much done now - lots of planting decisions to make for the borders but the groundwork is done and I'm exhausted!!! 😂😂😂

thriftwizard

I'm ahead of you all on the tomato front! Mainly because last year's plants are still with us... as an experiment, I invested in some of those self-watering pots with a reservoir at the base, and grew 8 plants in the conservatory. They've kept going all winter, rather untidily, and to be fair the few tomatoes produced in January & February weren't very tasty, as there wasn't any sun to speak of. But they kept going... now they're outside, flowering like mad, and there are fruits starting to ripen. 3 out of the 8 did keel over, but I've taken side-shoots & planted them, so have "new" plants too.

I was worried about putting my pumpkins & beans out so early, but they were too big to stay in small pots any longer; they kept falling over. Luckily I've mostly got away with it.

Greenglockenspiel

cornishchick said:

Raspberries ....
Myself, my daughter and My partner's dad have all had new Canes in the autumn of last year, all from different nurseries, different canes and all living in different parts of the country, we are currently all experiencing no growth at all on any of our canes and joke with one another about our crop of sticks.... 
my first batch of courgettes seeds didn't sprout and I struggled to get new ones, of which all of them have sprouted so I am behind. I have plenty of cut and come again salad and chard growing. so that's good.
my tomatoes seeds grow then just died on me... 

I had one of my 10 canes die (planted January) but around 6/7 have leaves now - none of them showed growth for a very long time. Half are summer fruiting tulameen and half autumn fruiting autumn bliss, the latter are doing better.

pollyanna_26

MingVase said:

No visitors dreaming - family all live nearby. But there is a big comfy recliner in there for the cat to sit on ..

GQ I think the same re the washing machine. The mattree we have is not old and cost a lot, it bugs me to have to change it already and we might end up still being sore  Maybe the aches & pains are old age and no amount of new mattresses will fix it!

I want the Ikea Kallax unit, the big one. It holds such a lot of bits and pieces and doesnt take up much floor room.

Well I am shocked Mardymar. All the times I've envied your comfy recliner and I now find her Majesty has the use of it.

Talk about a friend. Some friend you are. I even offered to help you dig up the patio and forensically examine the soil to prove you innocent of any Heffalump crimes.

Preps for my next life should I reincarnate will include not trusting any wee wumman living up a hill. I will return as a cat in need of a recliner. None of that shiny ribbon and gold bowl nonsense, I shall be one of Sir Terry's real cats and dedicate my life to protecting

Heffalumps , Jelly Babies no biting the heads off on my watch, You will never be trusted with the chocolate stash again. and by the way whatever happened with the Ark you were knitting?

I'll find someone else to knit with alongside the scaffold as the tumbrels roll.

Off to think of a scary cat name.Be very afraid!

pollyx

Look I'm so shocked I've mucked up this post. maybe my hands are turning into paws already. I must insist on thumbs like the late lamented cat with thumbs the NZ pm had.

wondercollie

It's much more cheerful in here!
My daffodils and tulips are beginning to bloom.  He who thinks he is a gardening genius is out cutting the grass.  I can kill anything, so I don't bother anymore.  I'm trying to convince him to plant a few tomatoes but I'm talking to the wall.

Mr. Collie has managed to kill a huge chunk of grass over the winter.  I thought only bitches had that effect on grass.

Si_Clist

If I may be excused for creating thread drift away from the gardening for a moment, I have a question.

If when you woke up this morning you found that with immediate effect all shops were closed and food deliveries suspended until further notice, how long could you realistically last with what you have in the house right now? 

GreyQueen

Si_Clist said:

If I may be excused for creating thread drift away from the gardening for a moment, I have a question.

If when you woke up this morning you found that with immediate effect all shops were closed and food deliveries suspended until further notice, how long could you realistically last with what you have in the house right now? 

I estimate 6 months, althought the diet would be quite restricted and I would have to top up with fresh greens, including danelion and plantain leaves, from my allotment/ the wild. By which time the potatoes should be ready and I would be able to live on those for many months. I have lots of tinned protein (sardines, tuna, corned beef) and some a lot of tinned sweetcorn, plus dried beans, other pulses, rice and pasta. I do need to up the game with tinned fruit and will be looking at adding a few of those today or tomorrow. Good mental exercise, tho.

One thing I did stock up on a the start of the lockdown (3 pots) is that dried dried strong cheese in shake pots which we can't call Parmesan because that is a registered regional product.

I like this; long lasting, a little goes a long way, can give a boost to even boring things. Shall also be adding some Worcestershire sauce for the same reason (recently nearly PMSL at a Canadian vlogger making several attempts at pronouncing Worcestershire sauce and getting it totally wrong before giving up).

Condiments are great ways of giving boring things some zip. Palette fatigue is a real thing, and one isn't being a princess making sure to have flavoursome things; if you can't eat because you're so jaded with limited flavours, health will suffer.

ancientofdays

Possibly two to three months but I'd really struggle with fruit and fresh veg. And I'd have to switch from builders' tea to herb or fruit tea. I have both but prefer builders' with a dash of skimmed milk. Think I'd prefer fruit tea to tea with dried milk though. OH and I  could manage without meat so that could be just for DS. 

I have herbs in the garden plus a lot of dried spices and herbs, lots of things to season food.

oceanspirit

I would estimate around 6 months for us too.  Not sure how much fresh we would be able to add in as OH has L plates on in the garden, however he is doing very well with salad leaves (indoors) and radishes so far, so there is promise.  We have decided not to have stores of tinned veg as it doesn't have long enough dates on and we don't actually like it.  We have some frozen veg and some home made frozen ready meals which are packed with veg so would last 2 months on those.

I think my main fear would be losing the electricity supply as we are heavily reliant on the freezer for our veg, however we do have around 6 months worth of powdered greens so we would be getting some nutrients even if not in their natural form.

pollyanna_26

Just being nosey GQ did you ever get through the loo roll mountain? Sometimes when I'm weighing up the larger packs in shops i remember your dad confusing pallets with packs . People must think I'm very strange because I always have a little giggle. Rerminds me of Phyllis in the Railway Children who meant well. Tales like that were the stuff of family folklore when I was a child although I don't recall toilet rolls figuring . Back then it was the dreaded Izal both at home and in school. Mind you it was a step up from the carefully cut out squares of the daily newspaper which was my Sunday job as the eldest. It was a relief in more ways than one when we moved to a house with an indoor toilet. You could have sat a jockey on the backs of some of the huge spiders that dwelt in the dark outdoor loo.

polly