New prepper . Hi

[boltprepper]

Wow thanks so much for all the replies.

Awesome amount of support and very unexpected
Thankyou everyone

Yes, trying to think of every possible outcome and know a way through it ! As has been said, no one knows how Russia and Ukraine will end, peacefully or ww3 and possibly nukes.... I've thought about that and have a drill ready for my kids who are at school less then a mile away!

I have iodine ready too, and I'm fortunate to live outside a major city, London being closest but still 20 miles as the crow flies.

I'm taking my best educated guess, and think the war will be unresolved for quite some time, and I think inflation will keep rising into next year when energy price cap increases again.

Buying long life food is an investment!

So, I think we will have shortages becoming apparent in UK quite soon, and if the shortages trigger panic buying - we will all be glad we prepared, if no panic buying..... At least we can say we got things cheaper because prices must increase as the cost of fuel goes up.

I was thinking wheat would be our first shortage but if we can make it till harvest season, judging by the huge amount of wheat in the fields vs rape, we should have a bumper crop of wheat this year! It's hard to spot rape fields this year! I wonder why? Did farmers see this coming? Was it government advice? Is it to do with the solar minimum? Do rape require more expensive fertilizer? So I hope wheat won't get short but I have lots of flour Incase!

I think our biggest immediate threat is when the word gets mainstream, and people buy the oats, rice, tins..... And they can't be replaced because of staff shortages.... The panic buying will be harder and longer to fix this time around! With less in supply, more expensive deliveries, staff shortages and perhaps the actual products that do get restocked will just be snapped up so fast again because unlike last time, this problem isn't going away even if the war ends due to price of fertilizer ( and shortages because they mostly come from Russia) and farmers throwing in the towel!....

We have a recipe for disaster and I'm quite surprised so many people are carrying on as if nothing will happen! At least this gives us lot time to source the good stuff!

[Yorkshire Andy]

With the shortages remember the run on loo roll

The panic buying of petrol

And the more recent cooking oil raids... Noticed this weekend that the supermarkets looked somewhere near normal , there was food and cooking oil on the shelves again....

[jennyjj01]

With the shortages remember the run on loo roll

The panic buying of petrol

Hi Boltrunner,
Many of here are looking beyond a time where stockpiles and reserves are the answer. You my find the Sri Lanka/Cuba sub topic interesting. Building plans for a level of self sufficiency into our preps and watching how those two island nations coped or don't cope.
Emulating the best ideas and anticipating the worst consequences.
viewtopic.php?t=17985

[diamond lil]

Odd thing is that up here there seems to be fields and fields of oilseed rape, not seen that stuff for the past few years but it's def back this summer. Hellish stuff.

[Rusty74]

I think the word Prepper puts some people off, it's just being prepared for whatever life throws at us.. well worth it

So true ... we're an adult version of the Scouts, really

i love that also and welcome to the forum

[WomanOfTheWoods]

Hi Boltprepper, I'm new to the site too! It's great to see so many newbies on a forum. That's speaks volumes.

I've joined because I'm interested in sustainable living, and I have so much to learn. There's people on the forum who have a wealth of knowledge and I'm interested in learning from them, especially in the area of solar power, energy generation; and in return I can share my little bit of knowledge of growing crops, keeping poultry, being sustainable in nearly all my own food.

I live on my croft and woodland in Scotland, have my own water supply, grow food, use my own firewood and sell my excess electricity to the grid,,,, so all in all , fairly sustainable. I see "prepping" as a simple, sustainable, practical and achievable way of life. For me, prepping is just preparedness and living within my means. I see prepping as mainstream. And if I can do this,,, anyone can.

13 years ago I lived in a rented flat without a garden. I now live mortgage and debt free on my own small holding. I had the advantage of coming from a rural background, so Practical is my middle name. I had a simple plan, put steps in place daily, and now I could easily live sustainably, only venturing to Inverness for shopping once a quarter! I did this without the help of a husband, no inheritance, no lottery win..... just Very Hard Work and a Plan. It's what I call prepping. And so many others are waking up to this too. Welcome to the journey!

Regarding your question on oil seed rape,,, farmers are fairly business savvy. Rape is generally sown mid March,, and they are simply responding to market forces with the impending shortage of sunflower oil. Aldi sell Scottish Oil Seed Rape. It's very high quality and well worth a try.