The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

boultdj

greenbee said:

Greenglockenspiel said:

Update from chez Greenglockenspiel: as of this morning we suddenly have one strawberry flower! 😁🎉

I've almost finished filling the raised bed I started building yesterday. Before I do I need to sort out the soaker hose that is going into it. I want to put it in fairly deep to minimise moisture loss from evaporation and encourage roots downwards. I think i'm going to need to invest in some timers for the water butts at some point, so that watering can carry on while I'm away (I can refill the water butts from the tap using the hose if necessary). I also need to sort out watering for the planters - and do something about the fact that the compost has completely dried out, so water just drains straight through. I can't think of a solution that doesn't involve emptying them and mixing in new compost/topsoil/manure. 

Newspaper.  Dig a wide trench when you do your planting, wet a newspaper, fold it in half, put your plant on top and cover with soil as normal. It's what my Mum did every year with the runner bean's, which are thirst plant's and we had free draining soil, but by doing that Mum use to get away with just watering every other day and still get a good crop, I've done it myself but watered every day and ended up with a mountain of runner bean's I was giving away left, right and centre as we were eating them every day, freezer was full and I'd even got a sweet jar full of salted bean's.

maryb

Back in February I aimed to have enough in store to be able to eat normally for three weeks ie two weeks of quarantine plus a week spare.  That was enough that I didn't need to hit the shops during the Great Panic Buy (and if the day ever comes when I am down to my last 4 packs of 9 loo rolls my family will ask if I'm all right).  I think that level is still a good guide for the time being in case we get fingered by someone under track and trace.
However I know if push came to shove we would be ok for up to three months.  Bored (except when the meals were " interesting" combinations) but not starving

greenbee

boultdj said:

greenbee said:

Greenglockenspiel said:

Update from chez Greenglockenspiel: as of this morning we suddenly have one strawberry flower! 😁🎉

I've almost finished filling the raised bed I started building yesterday. Before I do I need to sort out the soaker hose that is going into it. I want to put it in fairly deep to minimise moisture loss from evaporation and encourage roots downwards. I think i'm going to need to invest in some timers for the water butts at some point, so that watering can carry on while I'm away (I can refill the water butts from the tap using the hose if necessary). I also need to sort out watering for the planters - and do something about the fact that the compost has completely dried out, so water just drains straight through. I can't think of a solution that doesn't involve emptying them and mixing in new compost/topsoil/manure. 

Newspaper.  Dig a wide trench when you do your planting, wet a newspaper, fold it in half, put your plant on top and cover with soil as normal. It's what my Mum did every year with the runner bean's, which are thirst plant's and we had free draining soil, but by doing that Mum use to get away with just watering every other day and still get a good crop, I've done it myself but watered every day and ended up with a mountain of runner bean's I was giving away left, right and centre as we were eating them every day, freezer was full and I'd even got a sweet jar full of salted bean's.

Thanks! Now I just have to find a source of newspaper Maybe I could try cardboard given how much of it I seem to get through the door at the moment? 

I have now built my new compost bays (two of them) out of pallets held together with fencing wire and am VERY proud of myself as I'm not the most competent DIYer (I miss my dad's help with this kind of thing, but oddly find that now he's not here to help me, I don't panic and rush like I used to, but am methodical and think about what he might suggest - I do wish I could tell him!). They won't last forever, and I'm sure the wire will outlive the pallets by some considerable time! 

It's still baking hot, so I'm going to have a rest with my book in the hammock before I sort out the watering system for the raised bed, top it up with compost and work out what to plant in there. I've also rescued the old (tiny) compost bins and am trying to work out how I could use them as planters. There's lots of weed membrane left, so I'm sure I could line them. Or get some big plastic pots to go inside them. Not an urgent problem, but potentially extra courgette space.  

euronorris

I remember the tracing paper toilet roll, and am technically a millennial (though on the older side. Shhhh! 😂). It was still going strong in schools when I was there. God awful stuff.

Congratulations on the strawberry flowers! Sooo exciting! Our first few have finally started to pinken today! Hoping they don't get eaten by something else now! Lol. Had our first mangetout yesterday. Well DD did, and wolved it down raw. Didn't get a look in! Lol. Picked 2 more today, she had one, I had the other. Delicious. Will be plenty soon. Picked first courgette. Hope I get more this year, than I did last year! Shared out some more tomato seedlings with neighbours. And....our first tomato has set fruit! A cherry (sweet million 😍).

Food preps - we would have to be creative, but I think we could probably stretch to 2 months. We survived 3 weeks last time, at start of lockdown, and still had quite a bit in. Didn't have everything we wanted, but had more than enough to eat. We have topped up again.

Garden produce would help now if it happened again

boultdj

Yes greenbee, cardboard is just thick paper with air gap's any way, so use that instead.

thriftwizard

I think we'd be between 2-3 months, though once the 'lottie & garden crops come on-stream, maybe longer. We've plenty of tins, pasta, rice & dried beans & lentils, oats, flour, yeast (& sourdough starter) & lots of frozen stuff; it'd be fresh fruit & veg that we'd be craving & it's trying to keep a 2-week supply of that in (in case of isolation) that's pushed me over-budget for the last couple of months! Eggs aren't a problem, given The Girls, but you've reminded me I need to update stocks of their food too!

GreyQueen

Wow, wmf, fancy you remembering the soap stash! It is Knights Castile and I am down to a mere 72 bars.

Went to a Lidlly and then onto the allotments (didn't have anything that needed fridge'd, quite deliberately. Have been pootling around ripping weeds out of one of my three potato patches. Looking much better now.

Rowan9

Great to hear you still have the soap stash! Now what about the great Fray Bentos stash? I’m sure that was the same time. 

Still defrosting the freezer here own fault for leaving it long. It’s a satisfying task though!

elaine241

Just thinking about how long we could last. Probably a long time/indefinitely considering we have plenty of livestock/countryside and a canal full of fish! There are more than enough rabbits/squirrels/pigeons/ducks etc locally and if it got really bad I can set traps for anything feathered/squeaky! If it was just survival we could manage quite well but I would miss chocolate and pinot grigio!! I know how to make home made wine thanks to a grandfather who was very good at it! He was also a poacher and taught me a few tricks that I would never think of. In the war he fed the family with moorhens eggs stolen using a spoon on a pole and tied baby rooks to tree branches ( called branchers) so their parents would feed them well past the time they should of fledged! Sounds gross but I suppose it what happened when things were very short. He also soaked grain in whiskey , scattered it for pheasants and waited till they were blotto! They cant run away when blind drunk! He was also a semi professional sea fisherman and taught me how to catch fish, use nets for prawns and catch crabs using the big pots with a buoy attached.
My garden this year is huge as I , along with many on here, think there will be food shortages or price rises in the near future. I went into a normal small supermarket the other day and they had no tomatoes/cucumber or lettuce. It could be the weather meant everyone wanted a salad or that the Spanish haven,t harvested enough and the supplies are reduced. Either way I have loads of tomato plants  and will be bottling plenty for later on this year as well as making sauces etc I will be adding staples like pasta/ rice/grains/flour to my pantry when I spot large packs. I have found some dried milk powder with a long shelf life which will add to my many cartons of UHT milk. I must confess I am a tea-a -holic and going without my brew fills me with dread. I think I would have to find a way to make one tea bag last for twice as long or end up buying my own tea bush from the place in Cornwall that sells them!

Si_Clist

elaine241 said:

... I have found some dried milk powder with a long shelf life ...

In case it's of interest to you or anyone else, the last 900gm tin of Nido we bought (10 days ago?) has a BBE of April 2022.