Prepping for Brexit thread

One aspect of Brexit came via the post at lunchtime in the form of a letter from our lovely Dentist George who had written to say he'd after much debate gone back home to Greece with his family for good. I think the NHS might not be as accessible as it has been if many EU citizens currently working in it decide to go back to their home countries, sad because he is a very good Dentist but pleased for him and the family if it gives them the stability they need.

I think if we have supply problems it will be over the amount of product available and the speed or lack thereof with which more can be made and that depends in part on where the raw materials come from. I don't think the real problem will be a few days of shortages and then back to normal but shortages for however long it takes to find alternative suppliers of the component parts and a big enough constant supply. That might take months if it could be done at all. UK farming has been subject to supermarket bullying and EU regulation for so long now that farmers have been in an ever tightening noose from all sides and it's no wonder so many have given up altogether or diversified away from producing milk etc. This looks like a 'perfect storm' scenario.

CUDDLES an old wartime dodge to extend how much tea you have was to pick, shred (stainless steel knife only) young bramble leaves, spread them out on absorbent paper and leave them in a cool dry place to dry for a few days. This was mixed with the tea ration (can also apparently be used on it's own) to make it go further. People also used to use tea leaves (no tea bags then) and then dry them to be added back into the tea ration and again you had an extender. I haven't tried the bramble leaves as a tea but it was common practise and apparently on their own they taste like china tea. We have an awful lot of wild blackberries in this country so maybe we'd be OK?

Perhaps it might be a good idea to consider what grows naturally here in the UK and think what might be worth foraging for and what you could do with it?

Gorse flowers make a nice tea, as does yarrow and chamomile. We can grow mint in the garden and make mint tea or extend black tea with that middle eastern fashion, we know that sugar beet grows here so sugar ought not be an issue but there are increasing numbers of beekeepers and a honey supply but did you know that silver birch trees can be tapped for their sap early in the season and you can make a sweet syrup or wine from it? the syrup is the sap evaporated until it's reduced to 100th of it's volume (100 litres makes I litre of syrup) and it is a little like maple syrup which is made by the same method. We have an awful lot of birch trees in the UK! Hawthorn and rowan are both widely grown and wild in the UK and both have a use in that they can be made into a savoury 'jelly' to have with meats, crab apples (again an awful lot of them here), blackberries, rose hips can all be made into jelly or syrup or both, beech nuts, hazel nuts both edible and both can be cold pressed to give an edible oil which is also used in oil lamps. Chestnuts grow wild, walnuts grow wild and farmed too to use as nuts in protein filled dishes. Jams, jellies and chutneys can all be made from foraged fruits, fruit can be preserved in honey in jars, cider can be made from fermented apple juice (we do it an a relatively small scale but make enough to keep himself in cider for the year) and cider left open to the air will happily turn itself into cider vinegar. None of the above ideas are essentially necessary for us to survive but would be the little touches of interest that made bland meals delicious. So many other things available but this would cover pages if I listed them all!