Bulk buying to, hopefully, beat inflation.

-taff

RipleyG said:

 I have a very rare variety of heritage beans that look like a rounder cannelini bean but taste quite similar to potatoes! Chillies are also great for drying, and all manner of herbs. 

I don't suppose you want to swap some of those or tell me what the name is so I can keep an eye out please?

RipleyG

-taff said: I don't suppose you want to swap some of those or tell me what the name is so I can keep an eye out please?

They're called Bob and Mary - but we call them 'family beans'. I saw them in a display at the Garden Organic site about 20 years ago, and remembered them as those are my parents names! A few years ago it was their 50th anniversary and I managed to get hold of 6 seeds direct from Garden Organic. Here's the link, but you need to be (or know) a member of the seed library: https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/seeds/climbing-french-bean-bob-and-mary 

I'd offer to send some, but i've been unwell for the last few years so not able to grow them. I have a small handful from 2021 crops that I'm hoarding, but suspect germination could be problematic now 😕 

1stTimer

Bin bags! I always make sure I have plenty

although a bit like toilet roll I have to try a sample first as if they are too thin it could be disaster and you really don’t want a supply of them 😃

silverwhistle

OP, I didn't notice flour in your list. Do you do any home baking, as recently I bought myself a 25kilo bag of good strong flour. It happened to be OO so good for pasta and pizza too although so far have only used it for bread: loaves, sticks, focaccia, rolls..

As I get through it at around a kilo a week no danger of it going off and it freezes well too, and the quality is a lot better than most supermarket flour.

DiamondLil

I've bulk bought almost my entire adult life; my mother was a bulk buyer having lived with shortages and rationing in the 1940s - early 1950s, and so it comes naturally to me.

When I didn't really have space, stuff was stored in every nook and cranny I could find. On top of wardrobes, in boxes under beds, etc.

The last time I bought olive oil (supermarket own brand) it was £3 for a litre bottle. Only three litres left in my pantry now, so will have to look for an alternative because I certainly don't want to buy at today's price.

mumtoomany

Hello all, missing in action because it's  been busy here. The barn that has had the roof replaced, (storm darragh) is now being dug out by OH and I. It is about a foot deep with rotted sheep poop mixed with rotting hay. All being wheelbarrowed to the veg beds and polytunnel. Been planting loads of seeds too and planting out seedlings. 

@CapricornLass, yes I do bake, will add dried fruit to the list, lots of cocoa and chocolate already, thank you.

@Auntycaz, thank you for the heads up. I'll  go to Aldi and Lidl for the veg,  we have both in the nearest town, around 8 miles away. I'll  give Sainsbury's a miss, they are over 10 miles in the opposite direction. I still have shallots for lidl at Christmas. They keep really well.

@RipleyG, thank you, I'll have to research  vegetable clamps. We have plenty of space, might have problems with animals though. Seem to be plagued with rabbits, also lots of mice and rats. Regarding kitchen rolls. I mostly use old towels, cut up, fir cleaning etc. The kitchen roll is only used for handkerchiefs or wiping fat from pans and baking trays. They then go on the fire. 

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xx

mumtoomany

@1stTimer, good shout. We are running short on black bags. I buy catering ones from the cash and carry. 80 I a roll, thick, big and strong. But because there are 80, I always forget to check if we are running out. Will need some soon, so I'll add them to the list, thank you.

@silverwhistle, I don't tend to buy huge quantities of flour at once. This house dates back to around 1750ish. It is huge, draughty, damp and cold. We manage to live with that, but flour tends to go off. I look out for bags reduced I aldi, when the bags are split. I can usually pick these up every couple of months. I 9nly make bread in the summer months, it doesn't rise in winter! Thank you for the suggestion though.

@DiamondLil, did we share a mum? Mine was a horder too, due to growing up during the war. When the three day week was a thing in the seventies, she stocked up on household candles to combat the power cuts. A couple of years ago, after she died, my sister found dozens of them still left, in the cupboard under the sink. She had moved house five times with them. Good luck with the oil. I tend to buy from farmfoods, they do an offer on ten litre bottles if you buy two. Keeps well.

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xx

DiamondLil

@mumtoomany - remember the sugar shortage in the seventies ? The cupboard in my old bedroom at mum and dad's house was piled high with bags of sugar - and my dad didn't take sugar in anything.... even I don't bulk buy to that extent.

mumtoomany

Hi, @DiamondLil, I do. We also had cupboards full. From 1979 to 1981 we had a small grocers shop. Lots of strikes, and lots of shortages of different foods. I used it to my advantage. If we had a lot of stock of an item that was getting towards it's sell by date, I would tell the local gossips, confidentially, that I'd heard a rumour that that item would be going short next week, but not to tell anyone. Stock glut solved. Haha. Hugs, mumtoomany.xx

Savvy_Sue

Bin bags: if you buy the compostable bags for your food caddy, do NOT stock up too much, because they'll start disintegrating!