dipping into stocks and improving attitudes!

[PreppingPingu]

Sorry to hear you've had a bit of a "glitch" in the normal flow of things but well done on the positive outlook and for seeing the benefits and plus sides of adaptation and how to improve your preps/lifestyle. Good luck for what ever the future brings. Makes you glad of your preps when life throws a curve ball at you!

[Ferricks]

Thanks so much all! All in all - it was a success in so many ways and a real motivator that what we're doing isn't nonsense! OH's got the fishing gear out organising it today and we'll be building a smoker over the summer - another way to combat the protein dearth.

[2ndRateMind]

I, too, am sorry about your 'glitch', but very impressed by the way you have made it sound like a positive experience. With that kind of attitude, nothing can stop you going forward irrespective of circumstances.

Best wishes, 2RM.

[FEISTY]

I'm glad to hear that things are improving for you and I'm so glad you've been able to work through this as a team. Lots of us are trying to prep without having much support and would love to have all the family on board. I can understand the problem with trying to feed a family on tinned meat. The only tinned meat/fish we eat at all is skinless and boneless salmon. I loved it in sandwiches when I was younger (and still do) and, surprisingly, my son loves it too. I cannot get my husband or daughter to eat it or any fish other than chip shop fish and none of them eat any tinned meat. Have you tried the cans of chicken in white sauce which I've had served in vol-au-vents at parties and it's really good. That in a pie dish with ready make puff pastry topping (from the freezer) would be good too. I'm sure most supermarkets do it. Is it just the canned chicken and ham they don't like? You could just leave them out. What about other meats or frozen meat substitutes (Quorn, but don't know if it's actually protein). In lean times, you can forego the meat and substitute lentils - lentil soup is really cheap to make and tasty and you could add a bit of canned ham. My husband and I like Linda McCartney frozen veggie sausages, even though we're not veggie (I don't like finding bits of gristle in even the best sausages). You seem to be quite accomplished gardeners already and I wondered if you'd looked into backyard aquaponics. Pretty much all year round food and fish. The system can be powered by a solar panel or two. Something I'd definitely look into myself. I have friends who have a handful of chickens in their small back garden and that supplies all their eggs - a couple of rescued battery hens would love you forever . You could keep some for fresh chicken if you could bear to kill them (not sure I could unless I and mine were in real need). Good luck with everything and keep us posted.

[FEISTY]

When I was in my 20s I had friends - a couple - who, although both working in decent jobs, were so cash-strapped they went to a local farm and bought a huge bag of spuds for next to nothing and that's what they ate for about a month. They had mashed with gravy, baked with beans, chips ... They were so sick of potatoes and, thankfully, didn't have kids at that point, but it got them through a bad patch .

[poppypiesdad]

Local farmer up the road has 56 lb bags of spuds , various varieties for £5 a bag .


J

[ForgeCorvus]

Local farmer up the road has 56 lb bags of spuds , various varieties for £5 a bag .


J

Thats a good price.
Leave them dirty, in their paper sack in a cool dry place and they'll keep through until the next crop... Or until you've ate them whichever comes first.

Fiesty: Yes, it contains all nine amino acids http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorn#Nutrition_and_health

[FEISTY]

Local farmer up the road has 56 lb bags of spuds , various varieties for £5 a bag .


J

Just shows how much we're being fleeced for potatoes - we don't eat a lot, but pay about £1.50 for a tiny bag (about a lb) of new or baby potatoes. I only buy these because I think it's better to eat potatoes with their skins on. I give them baked, but they just eat the middle and waste the rest . I'd rather buy them direct from the farmer.

[FEISTY]

Local farmer up the road has 56 lb bags of spuds , various varieties for £5 a bag .


J

Thats a good price.
Leave them dirty, in their paper sack in a cool dry place and they'll keep through until the next crop... Or until you've ate them whichever comes first.

Fiesty: Yes, it contains all nine amino acids http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorn#Nutrition_and_health

Good to know. Seriously disgusted with how chickens are reared and the slimy feel to them nowadays. Very difficult to get organic up here and when it's available it's ruinously expensive. May consider using a bit of Quorn now and then. No problem with mushroom protein. Soya, on the other hand, can, I believe, play havoc with hormones - tricky when you're middle aged and female, so I won't be using that as a meat substitute pre SHTF. More and more of us will be veggie then whether we like it or not . Wish I could grow tatties here - I've tried them in potato bags and they always develop some kind of canker - it may be blight.

[ForgeCorvus]

Fiesty:
This might be useful if you try growing in future
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell. ... ection.htm

Are you growing in your garden soil?
Have you tried pure compost (council or commercial that is, not garden made) ?