What have done towards your prep?

[Straight Shooter]

Thing is BP , people of our age have had first hand experiences of lean times and have known ration books ( towards coming out of them in the fifties after WW2 and things were tight ) I was to young to understand that much then ....I remember having a row off my nan for bringing my friend to her house for cake ....he had some ..when he left ( do not bring your friends around again ...I wound not see anyone go hungry but his father is a face miner earning good money his family do not need my cake ! Besides we are just getting by as it is ! ....that never happened again.....a few weeks later we went to his grandmother ....for cake ......I am not feeding half the street was her reply .....lesson learned ....as my friend munched on some fruitcake ! Never forgot that .

[bigpaul]

yes, back in those days NO meant no, not like pester power these days.

[Straight Shooter]

Planted on the leeks and greyhound cabbage today along with the runner beans ...a tad early for them but they had to go out ....I been hardening off for a few days but just in case I covered the canes about a metre up with bubble wrap .

The new mobile chicken coup was finished and pushed into position , I am widening with Run area on the weekend then I will setup the mesh run and we will be in business ! ....I will pickup six hens and a cock and away we go ! Again after a three year break .

Just another four brood boxes to make for the bees and I am done for a while ! With all things bees ......all the veggies are doing great except some of the french beans lost about six due to frost by the looks I have sown more.

I filled the test bed hydroponics with strawberries they are going like stink ! I will be picking some within the next two weeks ! Still can’t get my head around how quick things grow in the hydroponics setup it’s truly amazing ! ....
The main growing poly tunnel hydroponics system is the same ....the aquaponics setup is also coming on strong ! The self watering setup is brilliant and doing great ....the other two poly tunnels are good but not full yet ...these are for conventional growing at the moment .

Fix bayonets men ....let them have it ! .

[bigpaul]

planted the tomato plants yesterday.

[Straight Shooter]

Ready for chickens .....collecting some Thursday / Friday .......the new pond I dug out with the digger a few weeks back produced a surprise today ! Couple of ducks have discovered the oasis which was nice to see ! ....ate three strawberries from the test rig today .... very sweet and delicious ...ahead by ten days ! ....I did not alert wild child to the good fortune ....what a total scoundrel I am ! .....and a was keeping watch as I munched away ! .

[Straight Shooter]

Six chickens are now in residence ! ....for now ....had the radio on ....I swear I heard them say ...have you any ABBA songs on there ? We like dancing queen the best um or fernando ....WTF ! .

[Mortblanc]

Play some HonkyTonk Women for them so they can two step.

Be careful though, chickens are easily depressed so go lightly on the blues.

Over here it is about time for the molting, brooding season to get going so laying is slow in the summer.

It was in the heat of summer and the depth of winter that I realized I needed 25-30 chickens to keep enough eggs coming in for one person. With only six or eight you might not get but two or three eggs daily. I was paying more for feed than the cost of eggs at the grocery or from the nearby farmers.

And the ammo for shooting predators off the flock was costing me a fortune! It got to the point that I had a motion sensor on the coop and one night at 3am it buzzed to reveal three raccoons, a 'possom, the neighbor's cat and two coyotes trying to get in the pen for supper, all at the same time.

[bigpaul]

25-30 chickens to supply eggs for one person?? how many eggs a week do you eat? we eat 6 eggs a week between the 2 of us.

[Straight Shooter]

Past experience of the same bird are excellent layers MB , I will get a minimum of three dozen eggs a week if they are fed correctly ....and yes I could buy cheaper eggs from the super markets......it’s not about the money....it’s about supply ....that I can control to some degree........I may well increase the number of birds as time moves on ...and from my stock birds ......I did have 24 at one time in the past ....and sold them in the local village .

[bigpaul]

in a survival or SHTF situation ANY egg is edible, dosent just have to be hens eggs, I prefer Duck eggs myself, although I am told sea bird eggs can taste a bit fishy due to their diet.