The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

greenbee

thriftwizard said:

Elaine, I just clicked on the picture icon (mountains & sun) above & followed the prompts to upload a pic.

Not wishing to spread panic at all, but various friends who work in assorted different healthcare settings are telling me they've been recently warned to be on standby for a possible second peak in September. So I shan't be letting my preps drop... time to actually buy that new freezer and re-stock, pile up the long-dated tins & packets, & keep the loo rolls rolling... forewarned is forearmed. But do remember that word "possible" & remember that theoretically anything is possible.

I've heard warnings about a spike in July (and undertakers preparing for a busy August) so definitely don't get complacent. 

Irritatingly I need to run down the contents of the kitchen as I'm due to finally get it fitted this summer - electrics are being done at the end of this month/beginning of July, and the kitchen is probably now looking like September. I also need to organised new front and back doors... 

I'm assuming no work travel (at least nothing significant) for the rest of the year, so need to plan more in terms of growing food. But I also need to start investigating watering systems in case I do end up going away. 

Onebrokelady

thriftwizard said:

Thank you, greenbee, that's a lovely offer, but the reason that only a few models are suitable for us is because ours has to be polycarbonate; the only spot that gets enough sun year-round is under a large, very ancient & productive apple tree! Only a 6' x 6' or 8' x 4' will fit the space without colliding with the garage or over-running the path. Even then, we may have to replace (or cover) the roof with conservatory twinwall; some of those Blenheim Oranges are big. Luckily it's not shaping up to be a mega-productive year on that tree, as it excelled itself last year & we ended up donating 15 sacks of windfall apples to a young farmer friend's pigs. But the Russet looks like it's going to make up for any shortfall...

Some of last year's crop:


Never mind the quinces...

Lucky you,Russets are my absolute favourite apple but it's hard to actually find them for sale 😟

Onebrokelady

wondercollie said:

Chieveley said:

Disposable masks @ Amaz0n https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disposable-Respitator-Protection-Dust-Proof-Spittle/dp/B08681JLX1?pf_rd_r=PH1WATHT5CY91RYY8KMW&pf_rd_p=15b60bc4-354f-4e4b-9ad1-7f12f925a65d&pd_rd_r=3e039c58-4736-4f25-b3a2-60650cc34ee7&pd_rd_w=RMlLo&pd_rd_wg=nyhsk&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d  
If you can wait ones from China are even cheaper 

China has the world market on face mask.
I strongly suggest you avoid anything by Vanch (procedural masks).  Poor quality, the ear straps will pull from the mask at the lightest tug.  A huge part of the shipment my hospital received smelt mouldy, you know the smell you get when you've put something away damp.  The smell was so bad that entire wards refused to wear them forcing our provincial government to air them out before distribution.

The Vanch masks have also caused facial rashes and other types of skin irritations among those of us unfortunate enough to have to wear them throughout our shifts.

Have a google at mask production in China.  Truly horrific.  Made by men in bare feet sitting on concrete floors while they cut the strips.  Nothing at all sanitary about them.

We have had the same problems at my hospital, we have all been given information now on how to treat Mask Acquired Dermatitis (or MAD 🙀) We had new ones this week that made my eyes itch and previous ones have made my skin burn.I hate wearing them now, how can they be allowed to make them in such unsanitary ways when we are using them in our hospitals

Onebrokelady

thriftwizard said:

Elaine, I just clicked on the picture icon (mountains & sun) above & followed the prompts to upload a pic.

Not wishing to spread panic at all, but various friends who work in assorted different healthcare settings are telling me they've been recently warned to be on standby for a possible second peak in September. So I shan't be letting my preps drop... time to actually buy that new freezer and re-stock, pile up the long-dated tins & packets, & keep the loo rolls rolling... forewarned is forearmed. But do remember that word "possible" & remember that theoretically anything is possible.

One of our bosses said they are planning for a bad winter because of Covid19,Flu and for children RSV and Croup, my ward has completely changed how it works and they aren't talking about changing anything back to how it was before 

Onebrokelady

Si_Clist said:

Sorry but I have to get this off my chest ...

There I was up at the allotment the other day diligently weeding away and delighting in the fact that nobody else had turned up yet when alas up comes Mrs Peter (as in PITA), the site know-it-all and bore.  Long story short, yes, that rhubarb on the path near my bike was mine, yes there was lot lot of it, bottle it, no I didn't see that program on the telly about preserving etc etc.  The gist of it was that preserving stuff in anything other than proper preserving jars, using new lids, was guaranteed to kill us sooner or later. 

So ... just in case anybody here saw "that program" (whatever it was) and was put off the idea of preserving by it, here's a picture of some of that rhubarb, bottled a couple of days ago in wombled jars, using wombled lids.  Given that we've been doing this for years, we'll be very surprised if it kills us.

Now here's a picture of some of last year's apple slices and some of last year's damsons.  Note the wombled jars.  We ate the last of those yesterday, and we're not dead yet.

And finally, here's this morning's batch of strawberry jam.  The green label on the "Harvin" lid actually says "Bramble 7.8.15" ...

BTW, the part jar on the left goes in the fridge when it's cold and we eat that sooner or later.  Unless the jar's full, it won't seal properly so doesn't keep all that long.

Finally, please note that we only use wombled jars and lids for bottling fruit: the veg goes in Kilner jars.  (Yes we do re-use the metal lids if they pass inspection, but if in doubt we chuck them out.)

I will now shut up about bottling stuff

I suppose these programmes have to say these things to cover themselves just in case 😊

DigForVictory

Some of the vintage WI can be quite Nazi about how things Must Be Done. I was blessed to have been under chopper to one such & while she never produced a bad jar, she never tried Anything that wasn't in the book. Adding a handful of chilli, or ginger was sacrilegious waste of food, not freeform experimentation with a 4 jar batch. (My sister makes jam in her microwave & can't do more than 4 jars at a time, which I find utterly surreal.)

elaine241

I think I will have a go at bottling, so Si_CList if I disappear from this forum I have died! I think bottling has to be done with acidic fruits , such as tomatoes and rhubarb, if you do not use a pressure cooker. But then I could be talking complete bull! I did bottle some tomatoes years ago ( they are still there!!) and I used them in stews and bolognese etc I would love to get my hands on a pressure canner but they are so expensive to import from the USA and not available in the UK as far as I can see. 
I had a totally bizarre interview for a part time job today; a true reflection of the interesting times we live in. It was via Whatsapp video call and in order for the signal to be OK I ended up in the garden, hiding under the porch in a thunderstorm!! 
In the veg patch the squashes have gone mad and have started to take over the plot. I cut the mesh from an old Herras panel and tied it on an angle above the plants, then tying in the most rampant stems. Hopefully they will climb up the mesh rather than trailing. 

Si_Clist

elaine241 said:

I think I will have a go at bottling, so Si_CList if I disappear from this forum I have died! I think bottling has to be done with acidic fruits , such as tomatoes and rhubarb, if you do not use a pressure cooker. But then I could be talking complete bull! I did bottle some tomatoes years ago ( they are still there!!) and I used them in stews and bolognese etc I would love to get my hands on a pressure canner but they are so expensive to import from the USA and not available in the UK as far as I can see. 
I had a totally bizarre interview for a part time job today; a true reflection of the interesting times we live in. It was via Whatsapp video call and in order for the signal to be OK I ended up in the garden, hiding under the porch in a thunderstorm!! 
In the veg patch the squashes have gone mad and have started to take over the plot. I cut the mesh from an old Herras panel and tied it on an angle above the plants, then tying in the most rampant stems. Hopefully they will climb up the mesh rather than trailing. 

FWIW we'd only bottle toms in the pressure canner, but we've been water-bathing rhubarb, apples, pears, plums, brambles, goosegogs, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and Morello cherries for donkey's years - and as far as we can tell, we're still here

DigForVictory

<Has sudden outbreak of Morello cherry envy> <well & pears & plums too but cherries first>
I didn't see one in the garden centre (& I looked) but Himself being twitchy about planting Any Tree til eldest son's is safely & rightly in the ground with his coins for the ferryman & sundry other grave goods. My heart absolutely understands. My head is thinking we need to crack on anyway & all that does is cause more tears.

annieb64

People in the house behind us have cut down their morello cherry. Several  of the branches used to  overhang our garden and I scrumped 2 lbs of cherries last year. As far as I could tell they never picked any .