The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

Sorry to hear you're not well TW xxx

Me, too. Get well soon, hun.

Nargleblast

Good point made by Siebrie - we may have cupboards full to exploding point and skills and knowledge to survive most disasters, but we also need human contact, at least a small group that can look out for each other and share skills and knowledge.

DigForVictory

Thriftwizard - hoping you are coping & that Himself has manged to coax a few plants back into synthesis from the compost heap...

Hear hear on needing a community to survive ideally - hence my absolute delight at getting a place on the course which teaches rifle shooting, so I can teach Scouts. Who may not shoot anything other than target faces, but I believe some skills are transferable.

Now to persuade husband that (a) they can cope without me for a couple of days at a weekend & (b) that they can cope without me a few evenings a month as I embed this new teaching lark by actually teaching.
I suspect sons may be glad to accompany me to a proper range rather than the current 'out with a mate' arrangement, as at least they'll be spared my hopeful onceover & the greeting yell of "hit anything I can cook?"...

thriftwizard

Thriftwizard - hoping you are coping & that Himself has manged to coax a few plants back into synthesis from the compost heap...

He's making all the right noises, but I haven't actually seen a single leaf yet... never mind, my tomatoes & chillis are up now; hope springs eternal etc. etc. Shouldn't be too long now before I can get back onto the allotment. I'm hunting for something I can grow tomatoes in at home; we're not allowed any glass structures at the allotments and anything else just blows straight down. I have a 2m polytunnel which I kept the bantams in during the last bird 'flu scare, but OH maintains it's too big to be up permanently in a small garden. I do have a small 6' x 2' polycarbonate "grow house" but someone who shall remain nameless planted a clump of bamboo right next to it, so it doesn't get any sunlight any more. The south side of the garage is already occupied by the kiwi vine, a pear tree, a crab apple and various other productive plants, and everywhere else except the pond and the centre of the little lawn is shaded by biggish trees; this was deliberate, as a couple of the Offspring burnt rather easily in full sun. Has anyone used a Culticave? Are they any good?

DigForVictory

Hmm. How soon can you eat bamboo shoots?!
Might ‘free up’ done garden space tho unlikely in time.
I’m sending he’s not the keenest gardener in the family, allotment or not? Or (rightly) focused on your restored wellbeing, Thriftwizard?!

daz378

Hello just popping my head in....seeing how you are all doing ....finally had to pay up for my partial dentures 1 front and back tooth over 200 hundred pound ouch.....slowly going through the salmon/meat tins my dad gave me weekly before he died in 2017...and carrying on the tradition of replacing them in another cupboard. Saving up for my sister's 60th next year in L.A.. you all take care

GreyQueen

Lovely to 'see' you again, daz, and ouch for the dentures. I'm giving two months' disposable income to my tooth-wrangler over the next few weeks, as the broken back tooth is getting crowned.


Tell ya, at that price, it'd better have a diamond tiara fitted as standard!

Karmacat

Hello daz! Isn't dentistry expensive even on the NHS and my dentist has practically stopped doing any hygiene work, polishing etc. Prepping is definitely becoming more and more essential.

thriftwizard

he’s not the keenest gardener in the family, allotment or not?

Genuinely puzzled by the whole business, DfV! He grew up in an assortment of military quarters where no-one ever stayed still for long enough to grow anything, even if his parents had been interested, which they weren't. His ideal garden would be an acre of rolling lawn with a nice view (preferably astroturfed so there's no mowing) with a small lake for the wildlife. He does create a wonderful wildlife pond; ours is teeming with tadpoles, newts, snails, water fleas, diving beetles and an assortment of healthy plants. And he's done a lot for the local bird life; there are feeders & roosting opportunities everywhere that the cats can't reach.

The ineptitude with edible & decorative plants isn't deliberate; he genuinely doesn't know which way is up but hates to admit it. So he copies what the "old boys" do or say, oblivious of the fact that they're mostly growing giant veg & spectacular flowers for the incessant round of "shows" rather than actual edible food! And that the layouts of their plots won't be like ours, because of differing aspects/shadows/frost pockets/hardpan etc. Normally I'd be up there to gently steer his earnest efforts, but not, alas, this winter...

culpepper

Havent used a culticave but we had two of those walk in greenhouses 6 feet by about 3 with the same sort of PVC material for the covers and they were excellent and lasted about 5 years before the covers went (I left them up permanently). We grew toms mostly but they were handy for starting seedlings before planting out too. Now have a guardman greenhouse which does well but not better.