The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

elaine241

When using the All-American pressure canner, we've always stuck to two sources.  One is the handbook that came with the cooker, and the other's the wonderful "USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning Guide 1" which we downloaded ages ago from the US Dept of Ag/National Institute of Food and Agriculture site.
Thank you Si_Clist for this I have just downloaded the guide from the website. I have downloaded a couple of other recommended kindle books on canning so should be able to get the basics going forward. I would still like to have your "hands on" experience of UK canning, e.g. re using lids etc there's the "correct" way stated in books and then there is the real life experience that reusing is not that risky ( fingers crossed!!) I will probably stick to the rules whilst gaining experience and then once confidence is gained do it the way that suits me.
I am hoping to can pasta sauces, easy meals, home grown gluts such as beans initially. I think I will steer clear of poultry until I am confident.

My seed starting has failed to get over the start line! Just have not had the time to get day to day life done this week let alone plant. I am off to go and put some chillies/toms and anything else I fancy in the heated propagator just so I know I have started something!

We survived the storm pretty unscathed despite being in the red zone. All the horses and cattle were in and the sheep took cover under the hedges. No problems with power although I charged up the phone etc and got the candles etc ready. Took the horses out in the rain this morning, got soaked, there was a tree across the green lane so we grew wings and jumped it!

Seeing Putin is still threatening to invade has anyone got any thoughts on how it may affect us in the UK? Just wondering if there are any specific preps people are thinking are essential?

Toonie

Sadly one of the small trees/large shrubs got uprooted in my garden and it's chucking it down here so not been able to get out to assess the damage. We're hoping if the root in intact we may be able to salvage it but we won't be able to do anything as yet. Until recently I hadn't been able to identify it, but finally discovered what it is, it's a Tawhiwhi 'Variegatum' (pittosporum tenuifolium variegatum) which is native to New Zealand.

Si_Clist

 ... Seeing Putin is still threatening to invade has anyone got any thoughts on how it may affect us in the UK? Just wondering if there are any specific preps people are thinking are essential?

Might be an idea to learn Russian.  Then perhaps Mandarin ...

slm6002

Seeing Putin is still threatening to invade has anyone got any thoughts on how it may affect us in the UK? Just wondering if there are any specific preps people are thinking are essential?

I've been wondering about this too

MingVase

Only thing I'd be worried about really was if they decided to increase the Forces, maybe with a big recruiting drive to tempt the young ones to sign up. Maybe to take attention away from Bojo the Clown's performance at home.

herbily

Re Putin, my best guess is that if the West applies sanctions, he turns off the gas supply to Europe, which means in turn European countries stop exporting power to the UK. Imagine a world with regular power-cuts, brown-outs (ie planned outages, you only get power three days a week or at certain hours each day). If you don't already have preps for powercuts, now would be a good time...

LadOnTheHill

Regarding preps, I'd suggest anything that is often imported. Less gas means less electricity for Europe, which might mean less manufacturing of foods, less imported electricity, etc. A power cut is a power cut, irrespective of why it's happening, so think about what you'd need to have to cope.

A source of light (I prefer led torches to candles - they can be made usable again with a solar charger, candles need to be re-purchased), a source of cooking (gas hob, though gas might be redirected to industrial uses such as electricity generation, or butane canister hob, log burner, charcoal for Bbq outside, etc), a way to keep warm (Insulated space, lots of clothes, etc), a way to launder clothes (depending on length of time) and a way to entertain yourself.

So far as I'm aware, Ukraine isn't known as an exporter of much, and it's too far away from supply lines to have much of an effect. Gas is very important, though, to a functioning society. Being reliant on a single source of it can lead to a lot of broken eggs. Fortunately we're moving into a warmer period which means less demand for energy, which should mitigate the problem a bit.

The other issue is manufacturing in countries in Europe. If a pasta making factory has to shut down for three days a week because there's not enough gas, that's going to have an effect on the availability and also therefore price of pasta. Keep extra food in, if you can.

The way I look at it is, human beings are really resourceful creatures. We've been through some really dreadful situations over the past 100-odd years. Times have been really rough, but we've coped as best as we could. We'll keep on doing that. Covid has been really awful, but we have face masks, vaccines, etc, now. I think it's important to remain optimistic, because it's very easy to spiral into utter despair when danger looms on the horizon. Yes, the proverbial is going to hit the fan at some point, and not just with the Russia/Ukraine situation. It's important to acknowledge that. It's also important to have hope. The fact you could be knocked down by a bus tomorrow doesn't mean you ought to hide in your house forever. That's why I prep - tomorrow might be great, or it might be horrible, but either way, I'm hedging my bets.

Thriftygifty

I've gone from looking at/planning, family holidays this morning and now a nuke map, how I've drifted.  I'm a little concerned about the Russia situation, and DH who is normally the voice of calm did not reassure me and then explained the distance for nuclear and where exactly we sit on that radias, I am now thinking my prepping should include a fast boat and a plot of land somewhere! 

More things I have control over... I need to buy a decent rechargeable lantern, a solar charger, more mini gas bottles for camping stove, blackout heavy curtains, new waterproof shoes/boots for everyone, new winter coats for DH and I and waterproof coat for ds1 & 3, self inflating mattresses for each of us and warm sleeping bags, a bog for each of us and renew/get DS3 passport as ours have expired, some really useful boxes for pasta etc storage.

I have come to the conclusion that my bug situation is booklice they are feeding on the crumbs and mould round our windows from drying lots of washing inside, apparently they are easy to get rid of I have to dry the house out and remove mould easier said than done.

Si_Clist

herbily said:

Re Putin, my best guess is that if the West applies sanctions, he turns off the gas supply to Europe, which means in turn European countries stop exporting power to the UK. Imagine a world with regular power-cuts, brown-outs (ie planned outages, you only get power three days a week or at certain hours each day). If you don't already have preps for powercuts, now would be a good time...

If they turn the power off for a period, that's a "planned outage".  A brown-out is when the voltage is reduced in an attempt to stop demand exceeding supply.  If your lights dim, you have a brown-out: if they subsequently go out, the brown-out has turned into what used to be a power cut but is nowadays an "outage".

But what we want to know is if it's an "outage" when  the lights go out, is it an "innage" when they come back on?

euronorris

We will cope, and plan around power cuts if needs be. Disruptive, yes, but if we don't have bombs etc on our doorstep, then I am grateful for that and will take the power cuts with a smile. I tend not to worry about nuclear stuff as I don't have the power to change it, or even prepare a bunker for it. What will be, will be (as they say).

I am optimistic it won't come to nuclear anyway, so moving on, entertainment is important during a power cut. I know that's been covered before, but reminder is always good. Something to occupy you, whilst power is off. Doesn't always need to be a hobby, can be something as simple as tidying up a room/area, or going through the kids clothes to figure out which ones they've outgrown etc. Anything to keep yourself busy and avoid using battery on your phones or laptops unnecessarily.