What have done towards your prep?

[Pete Grey]

(8 July 2023, 20:30)Mortblanc Wrote: I built a 3mx4m porch on the back of my place back in 2012. Framed it out and installed fly screen on the walls due to the mosquitoes we have here. Vicious critters they are and most infected with West Nile virus or some other plague the health department refuses to mention.

I have enjoyed the pest free zone greatly over the past 11 years and would do it again without hesitation. It was money well spent. and I have enjoyed each burger, steak and chop cooked under its roof.

I also have a cast iron wood stove out there and enjoy the cool autumn evenings by the stove.

Only down side is that each year some avian critter lays claim to one of the nooks or crannies before the snow melts and I open the back door. This year I became the adopted grandparent of a nest of robins and the little fellows sometimes return when I am outside to sit on the railing and have a chat.

Hi MB.

Thankfully we do not get the mosquitos yet but it may only be a mater of time.

We have two families of robins, friendly little fellows, they come and tell us if the feeders are empty, it's the pigeons (potential food source) they’re greedy buggers.

I like the idea of your wood stove, but not under a plastic roof, lateral thinking needed.

[Mortblanc]

Plastic roofs are not practical here, we get too many storms with large hail. Sometimes it reaches tennis ball size but not often. Even the golf ball size stuff will punch a hole neatly through the plastic roofing.

Mine is covered with the old fashioned corrugated roofing, like you see in the movies about Australia where they make entire houses from the stuff. No need to worry about sparks from the fire or heat.

In fact, I was out there last evening cooking my supper while a thunderstorm shook the world, lightening flashing, rain bucketing down. The wood stove also makes a nice platform for my hibachi.

[Straight Shooter]

Pete did mention polycarbonate MB ….the sheet comes in many thicknesses from 6 mm to 32 mm and have multi wall profile for his roof 16 mm twin wall would do it or 20 mm triple wall is what I would use , in the event of hail that we get over here ( at present ) golf ball size may dent the sheet but zero chance of penetrating the sheet , the profile is like looking at a mouth Organ reeds some look like pyramids ….the standards here are 28 mm for polycarbonate there is one other product that’s 70 mm thick .

[Mortblanc]

The formula has probably changed for such applications with tougher stuff now used.

The last time I installed that stuff was 25 years ago and the hail punched through it like it was paper.

I had to replace the entire roof with galvanized after the first good storm.

[Straight Shooter]

It must be water circulation pump week ! ….I have changed All the pumps ( three ) in the last few weeks so all hydroponics and aquaponics systems are back to normal .

All four poly tunnels are producing well ….i have had some fails …..cucamelons and melons and some peas have failed to germinate .

Picked the first of the runner beans this week , a plate of which was accompanied by some home cured bacon , butter , and crushed black pepper …..as I told you I would ….very nice too . Harvesting most all of the veggies now , dehydrating some , the follow on crops are being planted on !
.

The rest of the onions are ready to pull , I left them in a bit longer and the benefits have become obvious , so I will cure them and string up in the next few days .

Getting all the jars ready for the preserves , jams , jelly’s , and pickles .

[bigpaul]

eating home grown Broad Beans now, the Raspberries are nearly finished now, the Tomatoes are growing well but still green, got some nice big ones growing, even the Brussel Sprouts are growing well but wont be ready until much later in the year.
all grown outdoors in tubs, no greenhouse, no polytunnel.

[Pete Grey]

As the UK government have updated and made public the National Security Risk Assessment I thought I’d do a rehash on a post I made 27th August 2020.

[quote]
Over the last few months Western governments have slowly been realising we are all too reliant on China for manufactured goods, and Europe is too reliant on gas from Russia and oil from the middle east. The UK imports more than half of our gas needs, by pipeline and as lpg by tanker. Then the UK also has to import half of our food.

Also there has been a lot of talk in both UK and the US that we should be producing many more key strategic items ourselves. What applies to governments can also apply to us to a certain extent.

My thoughts.....

So what can we do as preppers to be more independent and self reliant ?. Well we can’t drill for oil or gas in our back garden but we can try to be less reliant on fossil fuel. Not for our vehicles perhaps but we can heat our homes burning wood not gas or coal and insulating them the best we can.

And as SS keeps reminding us we need to produce as much of our food as we can, we can grow fruit and vegetables, probably not all we need but enough to make significant difference to our diet and our finances. And we could keep chickens for eggs and meat, or rabbits, a close neighbour of ours keeps both.

While we can we need to stock up on more long life dry food prepper basics like rice, pasta, flour, cereals, powdered milk etc.

What about our other necessities ?, water, heating, cooking, lighting, medication, communication, security these should already be part of our plans

Water..... if mains water is lost we would need a lot of potable water (hopefully already in storage - jerrycans ?) and the means to collect and store rain water ( waterbutts fed by rain diverters from downspouts or even a large tarp spread out) and purify (Berkeley or sand filter or oasis tablets ) can you get water from local streams and pools, then transport it back home ( using a cart or shopping trophy ).

If there is no water supply, the sewage system would probably be down so we need a chemical toilet and the chemicals for it, and somewhere to safely dispose of the contents away from our home.

Heating.....if the gas supply is interrupted and if we have not got a fire grate or a wood burner we need an alternative form of makeshift heating, perhaps a wood burning stove made out of a gas bottle and with some makeshift chimney trunking. Any form of temporary heating will produce deadly carbon monoxide so ventilation is essential, to make sure get a CO detector.

Cooking.....the same safety points apply to SHTF cooking, if cooking indoors ventilation is essential, camping stoves using gas or methylated spirit should be part of your BO kit, propane is best for all round use, but you can always cook outdoors using a homemade rocket stove or a barbecue.

Lighting.....if mains electric goes down rechargeable led lanterns are excellent. You also need the means to recharge them, for well under £100 you can get a folding solar panel with a charge controller and leads, you also have a choice of wind up solar lanterns, candles preferably in a proper holder, hurricane lamps (and of course fuel) or a mixture of them all.

Medication.....we all should have good stocks of OTC meds and as much prescription meds as we can get, but a good book on herbal medication and some very basic laboratory equipment to make things up could be useful. Don’t forget you need plenty of first aid dressings as there may not be any doctors.

Communication.....the need to know what is going on, nationally, locally and in the family is essential. A good multiband radio, CB or UV5R and a couple of PMR walkie talkies, should cover most things. You also need plenty of rechargeable batteries AA andAAA, with the solar panel add a 12v battery, and you have an excellent emergency solar system. Make up some 12v leads now to save time.

Security.....make your home and garden including any sheds as secure as you can, the best locks you can fit, door hinges fitted with longer, stronger screws, window locks, and make sure you can defend everything......and especially your family.

We all know things are getting worse, wages ?, jobs ?, food prices ?, gas ?, electricity ?, doctors ?, hospitals ?, everything is collapsing, we don’t know how much time we have, make your plans for the crunch and act now.

[Straight Shooter]

A timely reminder Pete ! And one that needs all of our attention ! Especially if you are new to prepping ….buying and storing food and particular attention as to How you store foods correctly …….making a start on dried foods , white rice, pasta , dried milk powder are reasonably cheap and create bulk with ease , dried beans pearl barley , chick peas , lentils , amongst other stuff are good long term bets the best way to store these is in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers I use a a Mylar bag 12” x 14 “ roughly and add 1 ob 300 per bag they hold about 4 kilos ( you can use a iron to seal the bags ) these are not cheap items but well worth having something stored that will last thirty years ….and the ability to still eat it ! .

Preserving food .

Making jams , jellies , chutney , pickling , dehydrating , fermenting , are a good way of storing foods especially if you grow it or even buy it or go pick it in the wild all it takes is a bit of your time to turn it into something you can eat months or years later …it’s time well spent and easy enough to do yourself , and when you pick it from the hedgerows it’s free ! You could even make wine , cider …..etc . I have picked 12 pounds of blackberries this last week , just around my ground half an hour trip I get about a kilo with small amount of effort .

Growing your own food is another way to ensure your supply of fresh veggies at a low cost , I preserve a fair bit of my veg and fruit for winter use ! Every year ! .

I would not be in a hurry to buy a load of tinned foods unless you eat the contents regular and can rotate out the supply by date ….you will end up throwing it away …just like I did ……and do now still , but not so much anymore ! .

Growing food is not as easy as you may think it is and as the years roll by it gets a bit harder But you forget the back pain as soon as the spoonful of soup hits your tongue or fresh parsley is sprinkled over those new potatoes and lashings of butter and black pepper hits the runner beans …in short self sustainable lifestyle is not so easy but the rewards are truly incredible ! The way things are heading it will not be to long before EVERYONE will have no work and nothing to do but work the land for food ….beat the rush ! Start today ! .

[bigpaul]

people dont need land to grow their own veg, they can grow a heck of a lot in containers and pots, and one dosent have to pay a fortune for these items either, a lot can be bought at car boot sales much cheaper than on ebay or from garden centres, anyone who has a balcony or patio can grow some food and homegrown does taste better and at least you know whats in it unlike supermarket food.

[Mortblanc]

Come now SS, we know you are obsessed with growing your own but that does not mean that canned foods are useless!

My meds will run out and I will die of both diabetes complications and/or a heart attack long before I run out of cans, and a good few months before the veg comes ripe for picking.

My "use by" date is on the med bottle, not on a can.

Wind up throwing canned goods away??

Perish the thought! You know that those dates on canned foods mean absolutely nothing!

And why would one purchase a load of canned foods they do not eat, or want to eat, and never rotate or restock? Even if you do believe the "use by" date rotation of stock is still easier than raising and preserving yourself! Having something go "bad" is not the fault of the can, but of the person in charge of the can.

There are some preppers that actually work for a living. Some of them more than the customary 40 hour week, and they simply do not have time to tend growing, climbing and sprawling veg patches.

For those of us older and more feeble, that do not want to break our backs and have stroke or heart attack out in the veg patch, or spend hours slaving over a hot canning bath or pressure cooker, canned and bottled foods are both convenient and cheap.

Plus they generally take far less cooking time, fuel, and do not spread the aroma of cooking food through the overpopulated neighborhoods where most people actually live.

I know that some of you guys have the ability to grow enough to feed 5000 out of a sack of potting soil on the patio, but canned foods are a good alternative for anyone not blessed with a farm, acres of poly tunnels and a green thumb.

I have the land, and the equipment, and the seed, and I will grow veg if I have too, when spring comes, if my canned goods hold out until the weather breaks, and the sun shines, and the rains are right, and the storms don't blow me away, and the critters and hooligans don't loot all my growing veg,,,if I have too, I guess.

Or I can go open a can.