Preparing for troubled times ahead - Advice on what is needed.....

[bearbait]

I could probably last for 5-6 weeks without resupply. Towards the end it probably wouldn't be the most balanced diet. But some food in the belly is good anyway.

When I cook something like a curry, chilli or a stew I always make a big batch. That way I can freeze 3 or 4 portions for later use, e.g. when tired, ill, nothing on the shelves in the supermarket.

Like Woody girl I cycle through my stores, but using a general storage sequence of left to right, top to bottom, so new stuff goes to the right or the bottom in the storage. Takes a little shuffling once a week or so after the grocery shop but makes general use easier.

I have a vacuum sealer which I use on things that have a shorter life, e.g. hard cheese, flour. Plus it keeps all my dried fruits moist. (Not a euphemism.)

I have a bread maker, amongst other things, which I can power off my small PV system - although not all at once!

 

[gra_farmer]

IF you are really thinking along these lines ( not that i'm judging ) maybe as I believe you have some space at your property , consider getting some Rabbits to breed from and harvest. My family raised an incredible amount of rabbit meat from a few rabbits in just a small area. It wasn't necessarily because we wanted to just that being raised on a war pension with three other brothers and a heavily disabled father led to necessity finding different way to raise and procure food.

Rabbits are incredibly productive in terms of flesh produced to energy input / calories in - I will advise that you will probably get quite desensitised to harvesting them and the meat needs certain recipes to make it pleasurable - although maybe as I ate it 3 times a week the novelty wore off on me.

Hunting with a gun or bow is a great skill to have and practice but for a potential homestead scenario I would suggest raising rabbits as a very investable skill.

@TeeDee I have been looking at the wild populations, but that is a brilliant idea. Yes you are correct, I have space around me to walk around with rifles and not get the police visiting

 

[TeeDee]

@TeeDee I have been looking at the wild populations, but that is a brilliant idea. Yes you are correct, I have space around me to walk around with rifles and not get the police visiting

So I'm now a bit of a animal welfare advocate within reason , I see no reason we shouldn't just care if our chickens and eggs are free range but a modicum of good animal husbandry is extended to everything we consume. That being said, I neither get moist eyed if it comes to having dispatch livestock myself- its just one of those things, I guess one has to be raised on a small holding or farm to understand whilst its business as usual you can still be 'nice' in the execution of raising animals.

All that being said - if push came to shove - its really possible to raise rabbits in a really quite a small area if one is doing it for intensive meat production.

 

[TLM]

UK is more or less surrounded by the sea, so why has nobody mentioned fishing?

 

[swyn]

UK is more or less surrounded by the sea, so why has nobody mentioned fishing?

Need a boat?

S

 

[TLM]

Need a boat?

A proa or kayak serves well except in bad weather when all small boats suffer. Besides some fishing can be done from the shore.

 

[nigelp]

UK is more or less surrounded by the sea, so why has nobody mentioned fishing?

Over fished and nothing left!

 

[gra_farmer]

Eels are really easy to catch, hassan sack and an old rabbit. But again, fresh waters are limited, and seas polluted.

Also after teaching, pest, parasites and pathogens at university, I am a little put off fresh water fish. Still I will do it, if need too

 

[Woody girl]

Get a slow cooker. They are much cheaper to run than an oven, and you can bake in them too.
I've just had a go with a bread mix to see if it worked, it's a passable loaf, donated to my friend as I don't eat wheat, so I'm thinking other things could be baked in it too, aswell as soups and stews.

I've just finished sewing cheap fleece throws onto my bedroom curtains to line them, as proper thermal liners are expensive. I paid £7 each and they seem to work fine. As long as they reach past the sill a bit they will do.
Bubble wrap on the windows and door panes, works well. Particularly on toilet and bathrooms which are not heated. Let's light in, and gives added privacy too. I've done mine for years in addition to the double glazing, so I know it works well.
A wool blanket under the bottom sheet on your bed is an old trick that keeps you warm, and protects the mattress too.
A pop up or cheap single skin tent (I've got a ten quid tesco one) on your bed is another idea, put your blankets and duvets inside and sleep in the tent. Fun for kids too, make it an adventure, instead of a trial.
Brushed cotton pyjamas or nighties, and a hoody to sleep in.
Sheepskin bootie slippers.
Vests! Nothing wrong with them.
I'm knitting alpaca wool socks and fingerless mitts for all my friends Xmas presents this year.
I've also made a haybox to cook in, an old fashoned slow cooker if you like, used during the war, by most households. I'm using an old cool box, but you could use a cardboard box lined with newspapers and blankets or towels.
I'm also not going to store too much in the freezer, as with predicted power cuts, it could be a major loss.
I'm converting an old metal cabinet to an outside larder, just in case things go belly up, with a galvanised pail of water for the milk, just like the old days. I did once know how to make an evaporation "fridge" will have to look that up again.
It's a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, and I'm actualy quite looking forward to having the lowest bill in the street.
I'm looking at it as a challenge, and actualy mildly excited to test my abilities and pit my wits against the problems.
I'm taking the attitude, that it will be fun..even though I know it will be tough, but after living in - 20 in a toaly off grid cabin, melting snow for water, and a long drop for a loo, that glittered with frost in the middle of a a forest in Sweden. I know I can do this.!

 

[TLM]

After a few occurrences lately I have studied some small scale ways to water purification. It seems filtration+UV sterilization is the cheapest option. Power needed on some small capacity units is only 50W which is well within the capacity of small PV systems. That apparently works if no pH or chemical contamination problems exist.

I don't know but suspect that water treated that way would also store well.

 

[gra_farmer]

After a few occurrences lately I have studied some small scale ways to water purification. It seems filtration+UV sterilization is the cheapest option. Power needed on some small capacity units is only 50W which is well within the capacity of small PV systems. That apparently works if no pH or chemical contamination problems exist.

I don't know but suspect that water treated that way would also store well.

It will store fine. I am interested in the UV unit....link please

 

[TLM]

I looked at this but "UV water purifier" brings out a lot of sources.

 

[Woody girl]

I've seen reports that we are going to have to get used to drinking treated sewerage water. Typhoid, here we come!
It never stops does it?

 

[Paul_B]

I know people who extract their water from a spring. They had to get a uv system in-line to use domestically, it gets checked out occasionally too. They also pay for extraction depending on water use. Since it's whole farm and two households that's a fair amount of water, but cheaper than getting mains out to them. Plus septic tank means they're not even paying for rainwater removal or at a reduced rate because water comp get you no matter what you do in the UK!

Now having your own supply that's had a few hundred years of continuous supply is a good option should things go really bad through climate change or society breakdown. Better than storing water.

Recent droughts make water storage a seasonally good idea. However where we are there's been no water shortage and hose pipes are still much in use. As are water butt's because well everyone is on water meters these days. Until your water butt's are empty people often avoid hose pipe use except for the areas it's too much effort to carry full watering cans to. However I droughts news media tend to report like all areas are in drought. Many areas have not been short of water but news prefer to feed panic everywhere I guess.

 

[Paul_B]

BTW canned meat? Are there any that are nice to eat? Sorry but I'll continue with fresh meat. Not everything is as readily suitable for storing long term. If you like what is canned or jarred then great but no point prepping months off what you can't or prefer not to eat.

One more point, uk supermarkets are poor at selling long term storable foods. Continental stores have whole aisle of tinned, jarred and pickled vegetables. They're also actually quite nice. A lot of the poorer areas of Eastern European countries have long traditions of pickling and storing few in jars.

 

[Broch]

We're on a borehole and sceptic tanks; we don't pay any water rate fees at all so, no, the water companies don't 'get you no matter what you do'. However, we do have to pay for the tanks to be emptied by a licenced contractor. We also have to pay for the water to be tested if we want to. Years ago, the local authority used to test the water from private supplies, but that seems to have slipped into the 'not enough funds' category.

On the plus side, there are no chemicals in our water at all - it tastes of crystal clear unmolested water

 

[TeeDee]

We're on a borehole and sceptic tanks; we don't pay any water rate fees at all so, no, the water companies don't 'get you no matter what you do'. However, we do have to pay for the tanks to be emptied by a licenced contractor. We also have to pay for the water to be tested if we want to. Years ago, the local authority used to test the water from private supplies, but that seems to have slipped into the 'not enough funds' category.

On the plus side, there are no chemicals in our water at all - it tastes of crystal clear unmolested water

Did you pay to have the borehole installed yourself Broch?

 

[TeeDee]

3 mins 40 seconds in - Rations tender.

Maybe just governmental replen.

 

[Broch]

Did you pay to have the borehole installed yourself Broch?

It was installed by the people we bought the house from so, I guess, it was in the house price. But, yes, a borehole at £12K to £15K is a lot of 'water rate'

 

[gra_farmer]

It was installed by the people we bought the house from so, I guess, it was in the house price. But, yes, a borehole at £12K to £15K is a lot of 'water rate'

How far away is the borehole from the septic system? It normally has to be around 100m in chalk, around 80 in greensands, I need to check for gault clay formations.