What Preps are you doing this week

[junmist]

Let me know how they tast please nick

[TwoDo]

Think how many slingshot operators there are in this country and that fact that if there was any problems (not saying there will be, or there wont be, but hypothetically if there was) all the rabbits, deer, and all the rest wold die out quite quickly.

A local farmer told me that in the old days the people used to argue and squabble about who owned the hedges between the fields because the rabbits living in them would then be their property. Nowadays, he said, they still argue about it but it's the other way around because they no longer eat the rabbits. They insist that the hedge belongs to the other guy and hence it is that persons responsibility to cut it and lay it.

[ukprep]

got my allotment ordered and move in 1st feb although the snow needs to disappear before I begin. I think I am gonna put some pics of what I do because I am going to make the allotment self sustaining and hopefully get lots of barter items from it. e.g. seeds, chickens and eggs.

Purchased a long term unit to help me extend my supplies away from my house and make some room.

Placed an order for my 120 litre bio diesel.

Another more mental note I am trying to make is to stop thinking about the cost of an item in terms of money and buying as an investment. I think it is important to start looking at what that item is worth if the thing it supplies is taken away. E.g. the mrs isnt exactly thrilled at buying a £1000 bio processor, but I said what happened if there was a pertol shortage and the pumps were dry then the processor becomes worth its weight in gold. However still lots of arguments over the cost

Started looking into aquaponics as a way to grow food the problem I think in this country is grow lights are needed we dont have the sun to have them outside. Using a grow light makes it quite expensive for lettuce. Would like to know if anyone has any experience with this type of system.

[bic1]

Another more mental note I am trying to make is to stop thinking about the cost of an item in terms of money and buying as an investment. I think it is important to start looking at what that item is worth if the thing it supplies is taken away. E.g. the mrs isnt exactly thrilled at buying a £1000 bio processor, but I said what happened if there was a pertol shortage and the pumps were dry then the processor becomes worth its weight in gold. However still lots of arguments over the cost

Buying as an investment is no bad thing!I have always since in my teens bought the tools to do a job and costed it into the job, that way you have the tools at the end of the the project, consequence? the next project does not cost as much because you already have the wear with all to do the job, good investment! I am now in seventies and still use this method it works for me.

[ukprep]

I dont think you quite grasp what I am meaning. I used to look at something if it costs £X will I recieve a return meaning £x+ more £££££££ or will it make me money what I am looking for now is I would rather spend the £X and get no return than not have the item in the first place. Needless to say my preperation buying is going through the roof.

A good example of this I suppose is the unit I have recently rented out costs me £X per month however nothing in the unit right now, but I know i will need the unit. I would not have rented the unit before viewing the £x per month an additional expense for no return. I hope this makes sense.

[TwoDo]

A good example of this I suppose is the unit I have recently rented out costs me £X per month however nothing in the unit right now, but I know i will need the unit. I would not have rented the unit before viewing the £x per month an additional expense for no return. I hope this makes sense.

Seems to me whether the determining factor of whether an expense of a prep is wise depends how much impact the expenditure makes on your budget versus how soon you think that you will need it. If the expense of the item impacts your ability to pay your mortgage or rent then you had better be damn sure that you will both need it and that SHTF has a high probability of hitting sooner than the time it would take you to save up for the item a little bit per month. If you are flush with money (and it doesn't sound like it seeing as how your wife is kicking up) then it doesn't make that much difference so why not buy it.

The other issue to consider is that if your expenses alienate your wife it might make further preparations hard to do or that it will make her seek advice from friends and thus impact OPSEC. This could be quite dangerous (lookup the term OPSEC on this site for detailed discussions)

As for specific opinions on your preps, well each to their own. However one thing to consider is that you seem to be replacing dependence on one thing (access to petrol) with dependence on another. For example, to make biodiesel processor will need both cooking oil and various chemicals (sodium hydroxide, alcohol etc) all of which might be equally hard to come by post SHTF. Similarly grow lights require continued access to an electricity supply. This might not be available unless you have solar panels - and you if you do the math you will find that you will need a surprisingly large number of solar panels to grow anything under lights.

Perhaps it might be more efficient and cheaper to "pick the low hanging fruit" so to speak. By this I mean get the simple, cheap preps in first get the expensive complicated ones in later. Get a supply of tinned foods. This has zero expense (long term) if you are going to eat it anyways as your rotate your supplies. You have an allotment coming excellent - really work on the gardening skills and seed saving and home preserving, get a water butt and a water filter. Get knowledge in first aid, get a bicycle, ride it to work and improve your fitness. Once you have got the basic stuff in then worry about the expensive items.

Just my thoughts YMMV

[westlothianlass]

Hi all
Spent the day decanting hedgerow wine from stored demijohns, we now have 24 bottles stored for an alcohol emergency ,
and delighted to say they taste great (had to check for quality control).
WLL x

[edward.21]

got my allotment ordered and move in 1st feb although the snow needs to disappear before I begin. I think I am gonna put some pics of what I do because I am going to make the allotment self sustaining and hopefully get lots of barter items from it. e.g. seeds, chickens and eggs.

Purchased a long term unit to help me extend my supplies away from my house and make some room.

Placed an order for my 120 litre bio diesel.

Another more mental note I am trying to make is to stop thinking about the cost of an item in terms of money and buying as an investment. I think it is important to start looking at what that item is worth if the thing it supplies is taken away. E.g. the mrs isnt exactly thrilled at buying a £1000 bio processor, but I said what happened if there was a pertol shortage and the pumps were dry then the processor becomes worth its weight in gold. However still lots of arguments over the cost

Started looking into aquaponics as a way to grow food the problem I think in this country is grow lights are needed we dont have the sun to have them outside. Using a grow light makes it quite expensive for lettuce. Would like to know if anyone has any experience with this type of system.

good luck on you're allotment, for seeds i highly recomend http://www.realseeds.co.uk/index.html they also supply a seed saving book but i find the instructions that come with them are adequate.

i have also been looking into aquaponics for a while i have come to the conclusion that in this country it is not worth it if you have to make your own electricity, because to have a system that is worth your while it needs to be kept warm (15c-25c) and it takes alot of constant fetteling to keep the nitrogen/oxeygen/ammonia at the correct levels.

good luck and good prepping

[redskies]

i have also been looking into aquaponics for a while i have come to the conclusion that in this country it is not worth it if you have to make your own electricity, because to have a system that is worth your while it needs to be kept warm (15c-25c) and it takes alot of constant fetteling to keep the nitrogen/oxeygen/ammonia at the correct levels.

I've thought about it too. And I've come to the conclusion that it's something that could possibly be done in an underground greenhouse. Still playing with the idea, if it goes any further, I'll post about it.


We've sorted out some of the containers we need for seeds and veg. I've been today and cleaned out the cupboards in the shop, getting ready to open in March. And on the next day with nice weather, my friend is going to take me to the beach about 40 miles away, the only one with tons of shells, so I can pick up LOTS for some of the things I make. More baby steps towards land

[metatron]

I picked up a sewing machine and am watching a lot of youtube instructional videos, lol. Also experimenting, I figure if I can't make my own clothes and bag and such, I may be walking around naked at some point.