The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

jamanda

My Dad's mum used to run a soup kitchen apparently.  They were also really poor.

annieb64

My great grandfather  died in 1913. He was a farm worker  and the family had to leave their tithe cottage. They were desperately  poor and used to catch small birds and collect birds eggs for food. Once the war started  my great  grandmother  did find some work on the land and the eldest son was old enough  to leave  school so they had a bit more but my grandfather  never forgot that time and all his life never wasted  anything.

MingVase

My dad was the same annie, brought up on the farm then his dad went on the fishing boats, There were 7 of a family and 6 of them lived well into their 80s and more. Rabbit and fish diet. Yeugh!

elaine241

My grandfather wrote his own book about memories of a country childhood. They were also poor but never went hungry. They had typical veg patch, hens etc and also knew all the plants, fruits and nuts etc they could forage. He also was a poacher and was an absolute crack shot with a very small but deadly catapult he still had when I was a child. In the war he caught rabbits, pheasants, pigeons, squirrels and also had what he called branchers. These would be considered cruel now but they needed food! They climbed up to a rooks nest and tied the baby fledglings to the branches so they couldn't fledge. The parents would continue to feed them getting fatter and fatter. Once feathered and plump grandad would climb up and collect them for dinner! He was also a sea fisherman so they had a great diet!
He taught me how to catch prawns with push nets or nets under rock ledges, crabs, fish, shoot and set snares which I never did as I couldn't face it! He showed me many wild foods and I still collect them today. 
This week I have made crab apple and rosehip jelly, rosehip syrup and collected about 3 kilos of sweet chestnuts. I was driving home , spotted a load on the road and then went and collected bags full from the woods nearby. My sons shoot and I have rabbits skinned and jointed in the freezer. 
I am in Wales and in lockdown. I have massive stock of TP as I am thinking of selling on FB  .  My veg patch is still providing so much food that I haven't bought any veg for weeks except celery. I am venturing out into the wasteland that is the shopping centre tomorrow so I shall update everyone on the state of the shelves in Lidl and Morrisons. My main shop is Lidl the Morrisons is for specific bits they don't sell. I have heard there has been massive arguments, disgust and backlash over the  rule they can not sell non essential items. I think a U turn is coming very shortly!! If your kettle blows up or all your underwear gets ruined in the wash in Wales you are stuffed for a quick cuppa and have to go commando!!

Sayschezza

Or alternatively you shop from Ama.zn and take away the trade from the local shops.

Nargleblast

By the time they finish deciding what's essential and what isn't, lockdown will be over.

Thriftygifty

I have spent the weekend trying to sort gifts for DS birthday rapidly approaching, I feel I have betrayed myself by using Amazon for 50% of the gifts and the other 50% from a family owned business.  I have Amazon prime for another 7 days and then it will be cancelled I love the convenience but it isn't a company that I want to majorly support going forward.  Our town is also rallying around for the free school meals, it's caused a huge uproar and I am also disgusted that it was refused, it is not a way to keep the country united. A delivery came and there were no baby potatoes I ordered 4 packs for our two house holds and they didn't substitute just said unavailable which is a first, other than that nothing majorly concerning at the min, ordered potatoes from Milk and More due to hopefully arrive in the morning.  The inevitable happened and Covid arrived at DS school last week, not his bubble for the moment but its here, I am hoping it might have shaken a few of the parents up and made them think about distancing from others.  One of my friends said her childs secondary school sent an email asking parents to tell their child not to share face masks with their friends as they over heard students asking to borrow their friends mask as they needed to go to the shop after school.

Can anyone think of anything from a prepping side of things for gifts for small children?  So far I have sleeping bags which will be handy but they will equally like.  I want to be careful with what I buy this Christmas. 

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

Sayschezza said:

Or alternatively you shop from Ama.zn and take away the trade from the local shops.

Or you shop on your local shops' or freelancers' websites. There's not many businesses who don't have some sort of internet presence, even if it's just a Facebook page or Twitter. Now is the time to seek them out and support them.

boultdj

Need to check the house again, it's getting cold and the first mouse has been seen and dispatched by me, the cat just watched...……. told her the deal was she kills the mices! and we get rid of the bodies...……...

cornishchick

Thriftygifty said:

Can anyone think of anything from a prepping side of things for gifts for small children?  So far I have sleeping bags which will be handy but they will equally like.  I want to be careful with what I buy this Christmas. 

how about wind up torches and or phone chargers? decent water bottle, a good compass and way of making the use of it a game.