The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

CRANKY40

I picked my rhubarb last week. I now have some very happy friends because of the resulting rhubarb and ginger jam. 

DigForVictory

Rhubarb & ginger, eh? Eyes canopy of leaves & bag planned for ‘soothing syrup’ & schemes... Thankyou cranky, I was all set to forget!

[Deleted User]

Anyone else going to continue with the prepping now that covid seems to be less intrusive in life than it has been for the past 15 months? I don't think we've seen the end of it and I'm pretty sure we'll have some ups and downs before it's regularly a part of life like the flu and just the usual vaccination once a year but it's shown me the value of having the prepping stocks and equipment in place before they're needed in real life and also having the resilience that being a prepper with the preppers mindset of 'make life as good as you can with what you've got' gives once you're in that position.  I intend to keep stocks and equipment up to date from now on and also seek to aquire more knowledge in areas of deficiency like herbal medicines and general old skills that I have in theory but I'm pretty sure the practicalities of doing those things isn't as easy as it appears when you read words on a page.  Anyone else going to carry on prepping into the future or will I be in the minority from here on in?

DawnW

@boazu I am definitely going to continue to keep a well stocked larder and grow as much food as I can in my little garden. I have always tried to do this, and see no reason to stop.

maisie_cat

annieb64 said:

Having had mice-once-everything such as flour , pasta etc are now kept in glass jars or tins.

Every house I've owned has had a mouse once in a while, I decant everything into glass containers. I love vintage ravenhead and reagent jars, the flour is in huge biscotti jars and tins. The pretty jars are in the kitchen and clip top jars in the garage stores. In our last house I had the jars on display, making it easier to rotate, meal plan and avoid waste. Everything in the garage is also in really useful boxes and so far we've had no attempts at breaking in! the only thing I don't protect  in glass is potatoes and onions, because mice don't like them apparently, and I'd need huge jars.

boultdj

I will keep it up boazu, or as much as I can.  I think it's ingrained with me having lived in a 2 street village as a youngster where getting snowed in for 6 weeks at a time was just winter as normal.

[Deleted User]

The plot is looking promising this year, with this warmer weather we've got lots of (late but OK) germination and the plum tree is covered with set fruit and hopefully will give us a good crop.  I've still got quite a few packs of plum puree in the freezer which is nice as last year it really was generous with it's harvest and I'll do more to replace them as they're nice with apples for crumbles. We've put in more potatoes this year and will store them in half sacks rather than whole ones as they're easier to store in the kitchen while in use.  Still have a few of last years onions strung, they've kept well but are beginning to sprout and need using up. I still have lots of jams, pickles and chutneys in stock down in the store but I will make more jam this year and apple chutney and military pickle as that seems to be our favourite.  As the harvest starts the dehydrator will be in use every day and I shall use as much fresh as I can to feed us too.  I am going to see if I can dry broad beans this year rather than freeze them, the freezing does things to an already chewy thick skin that makes the defrosted beans unpleasand unless I pop the inners out of the skins and that's a job I hate.

Toonie

I've always tried to maintain a store cupboard as my wages have always fluctuated (about 8 years ago as a nanny of school aged children my wages during term time meant I had £10 a week for food) so in good times I would get in tins, packets, and items for the freezer. I can't imagine this will stop anytime soon, having that safety net definitely means I worry less.

I've also been teaching myself various crafts over the years so I can turn my hand to a lot of things. The only thing I'm awful at is needlecrafts. I've just never been able to master them. Thankfully my partners Mum was a seamstress, so he is quite competent with a needle and thread. I'd quite like to pick up some more skills, so I'll be trawling through some old household books which were my Grandmas and Great Aunts and see what skills I can pick up on.

[Deleted User]

DD1 and myself have done all sorts of odd courses over the years to gain skills from flint knapping and nettle/flax cordage to Stoneage cooking including fish in clay lobbed into the fire (delicious) and pot boilers from heated stones and cooking on flat rocks, and made bread in an earth oven dug into a bank. We've done leatherwork, hedge basketry, Victorian cleaning, longbow making and DD even has a cast bronze dagger she made herself, we've done survival courses and foraging, herb craft and rudimentary still room work.  All useful (even if a bit wacky) and we can make a fire with flint and steel, build a shelter and dig a compost loo and harvest water from various things in the wilderness...I hope we never have to use them for real but if we do life might be a bit more comfy than it could be.

euronorris

I've been busy in the garden with DD, enjoying the lovely weather. Moved the wild field...I mean lawn! 😂 parts were knee height! Done some weeding, paddling pool out, sun umbrella firmly in the garden table providing some shade, old herbs removed, new herbs planted up. Lots more to do, but hard work when the 4 year old screams everytime she sees an ant....which is often. Lol.

I think it's time for a different kinds of prep, by having a declutter and removing some stuff before DDs birthday in early July.