The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)
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Onwards with the prepping - which, for me, seems to consist of running things down, so i can build them up again..
What makes prepping so important that it needs to be stickied Doveling?
To be honest I don't understand why the fuss. We have a new thread. We can all use it and if M&M90 thinks it should be stickied then so be it.
Thanks for being proactive about the thread. I would hate for it to disappear like some of the others.
Not sure if it counts as prepping but I finally got round to starting to shorten one of the floor length living room curtains - only been meaning to do that for about a year!!!
Wooligan 2 squares for smoky - 3 squares for HTA
Preemie hats - 2.
Re fires, I've no experience of woodstoves but considerable experience of bonfiring and have left a nice deep bed of ash (about 4 inches deep) on my allotment bonfire spot to help the next bonfire get away. Plenty of time in spring to rake out the ash pile and turn it under.
I have plans to grow a large amount of taters to feed all the family. Hope the rains come at optimal times in 2019.:)
John Ruskin
Veni, vidi, eradici
(I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
Cards on the table re:flour. How many in store is sensible in terms of the creepy crawly risk? I have one in use and one in back up. Can I push that further adding more bags?
Retired August 2016
Paid off French mortgage September 2018
New kitchen fully installed June 2019
Not counting this! 2020
Garden fencing completed, woohoo 2021
Hardcore US preppers seem to favour storing wheat berries and grinding them into flour at need. Properly sealed, what they describe over there as red wheat can last for 30 years.
Re taters, I didn't water this year's crop at all but they were planted in soil with a lot of spent barley grains from the organic brewpub and seemed to hold enough moisture to keep growing. They were respectable if not effing (for newcomers, my allotment is in sight of the road and some passers-by witnessing one year's harvest commented to each other would you look at the size of those effing things!) Hence effing potatoes = very large potatoes.
I have deliberately acquired a second half-size plot alongside the full-size one - on a site with a glut of untenanted plots or this would not have been allowed - specifically to aid potato growing and crop rotation. Planning on sowing 10-12 kg seed spuds next year.
John Ruskin
Veni, vidi, eradici
(I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
It's good to make sure it can't disappear inadvertently, though I'd love it if the IT peeps at MSE Towers could retrieve old threads. Jackie O had a thread about making do which got gremlinned and the replacement thread lost some momentum
Fuddle I think you'd be fine with storing more flour if you stick it in the freezer first. That kills off anything that's in the flour when you buy it. I stockpile about 8 bags at a time because that's the amount that fits in a plastic crate with a lid and it also happens to last about the right length of time between discounts on the brand I prefer. I keep it in a sealed crate because we had a visit from Mr M Mouse once who nibbled the corner of every packet I had on open shelves in my store cupboard. You would not believe the damage one little mouse can cause!!! But mice don't seem to be able to gnaw through plastic crates (Unlike cousin Roland outside which periodically gnaws through the food recycling bin - they say that, in London, you are never very far from a rat, but thank Heaven they stay outside)
The main addition to my store cupboard this year is chutney, I figure that it will bring a bit of spice to any meal and also had a glut of stuff this year. I have rhubarb, beetroot, plum, apple, pear, tomato, green tomato and onion( guaranteed there is something else hidden on the shelves).
Wine I have peapod and mint, apple and blackcurrant, plum, peach, beetroot (not sure about this but giving it a good lie down before trying) rhubarb and apple and pear.
I am going to boost up my tins now as well.