Preppers Paradise: Pickled Turnips and Sovereignty Spam

[RedToothBrush]

Despite all the accusations of hysteria for those saying they intend to prep, today Theresa May said households were going to be given guidelines in August and September on how to prepare in the event of No Deal.

Robert Peston@Peston
@theresa_may says 70 "technical notices" for businesses and households will be published in Aug and Sept setting out how we can all prepare for a no-deal Brexit (should that be what happens). Yikes

Arla are already warning that milk product may be scare and baby formula will be 'an occasional luxury' even if we do get a deal
Dairy products 'may become luxuries' after UK leaves EU

Whilst we wait for the government to advise us on what action we all need to consider taking, this is a thread dedicated for those people who wish to share tips, advice and what they plan to do rather than clogging up other threads.

My MIL offers us things like courgettes from her garden by the sackful, but how hungry would my kids have to be before they agreed to eat them?! (Perhaps I shouldn’t laugh 😫)

This is the problem, isn’t it?

How many people can spare the time and money to grow their own food, raise their own livestock, cook their own meals from scratch, pickle and preserve?

How many actually know how to do it in the first place?

We get power cuts here in the storm season and if it looks like being over 24 hours, we wrap the freezers in blankets and don't open them.

Food that is still cold is fine to cook and eat.

FWIW.

Avid follower of the Westminstenders threads. May I recommend the cookbook, ‘The Art of the Larder’ by Claire Thomson? Lots of brilliant recipes for store cupboard basics. We are starting to slowly build up our stockpile of dried/tinned goods and water....

Motherof4 Tell them that today

Govt confirmed in the HoC that it is stockpiling medicines and non-perishable foods

Do you really trust the govt to stockpile what you need and also to see it reaches you in time ?

DS is a nightmare for food.
If I can't get peanut butter and bread we'll be in trouble.

Because of this thread I’ve been into town this morning and bought batteries, vitamins, medicine and salad seeds. I’ve checked all the torches work and the wind up radio, and charged my old Nokia phone

My DP thinks prepping is crazy, and we have such a small house there isn’t space for 25kg bags of rice and flour (which is what I want to buy).

I already have a secret drawer full of extra tins. No allotment or chickens sadly.

Now to get someone in to sweep the chimney...

Thanks Red for this thread. I can hardly believe this is where we are at, but we are.

I have an Android app called Packing List Lite which comes loaded with a Survival Kit list and am using that as a basis for mine.

Also here's Flylady's checklist - it's more focused on evacuation in the case of natural disaster but might be useful.

I have a monthly contact lens subscription and usually find myself building up a stash, as I don't get through them as fast as they send them. Have now realised this is an advantage and will change the dates of dispatch online to make sure I have at least 3 months' supply.

My main challenge is doing a major declutter so as to free up more storage space. I am in a small flat, small fridge, tiny freezer compartment, very little in the way of storage, there's a partly boarded loft but it's full of crap. There is a deep cupboard in the kitchen with a section that is hard to get to and that could be the ideal place for an emergency larder - but first I have to get rid of the food processor which has been sitting there unused for years. Think I'll put it on Freegle.

One thing I won't go short of: lipsticks. I have like 30. Bought another one yesterday. It could be years before I'm reduced to making my own like in WW2. I must get organised or I'll find myself in March 2019 with only my lipsticks to eat!

I do hope there are no Leavers reading this thread and making notes .

As we all know, any lack of faith or positive thinking makes the Brexit fairies very sad. If too many of the 17 million British people (remember, the 16 million don't exist) were to even think about keeping extra paracetamol or rice, that in itself will scupper Brexit Success by killing the Brexit Tinkerbells and frightening away the Sunlit Unicorns .

I have done my first prepper shop and ordered some inhalers. My asthma is normally well controlled so I don't order them often but will be getting monthly repeats now.

Please check all the expiry dates on your tins. Some are surprisingly short, others very long. I wouldn’t buy anything less than 2020 expiry date now. Find a system to rotate your tins. I have a large larder and stack shortest dates on top shelves working downwards to longest on the bottom. It took a while to organise it at first, but now when I buy a tin, I look at the date and put it exactly where it needs to go, no fuss. Same principle can work with kitchen cupboards but I’d reverse the order for top cupboards. There’s no need for any waste really if you watch the dates.

Honey lasts forever, at a pinch. Things like powdered hot choc, milk and malted drinks have long dates.

Some things you won’t be able to buy too far in advance, like long life milk. For those sorts of things, make a list so you know what you need to buy closer to March 2019.

Last minute, panicked stockpiling causes unnecessary shortages. Try to prep slowly and over a long time. This lets you eat a few things to see whether it’s worth buying again, and slow prep is obviously easier on the pocket. A little self sufficiency does you no harm.

How do we feel about clothing? Might it be wise to buy some cheap bundles of kids clothes in larger sizes off eBay and the like?

I do hope there are no Leavers reading this thread and making notes hmm

No, I think you’re all barmy - as you were.

No problem smile

I wouldn’t waste valuable space stockpiling clothing. That’s very unlikely to become an issue, and most of us have way too many clothes. I’d save the space for food and water, which will become an issue very quickly if we crash out. One exception in my opinion is that all your family must have a warm, well fitting winter coat, hat and gloves. So if your kids are growing out of theirs, that’s something to address.

Forgot very important point: you need a very good can opener, ideally two. Even if you have ring pull only cans. Because the ring pulls can and do break. Same for bottle openers. Stock up on wine (any excuse )

The kids are 4 and 1 so will outgrow everything by this time next year, so at the very least will need a few warm items just in case.

Can openers is high up on my list.

I reckon spirits keep better than wine :)

Must go and have a clear out in my under stair larder and make a note of what I've got and start putting a few bits in every week.

One question, maybe I'm being a bit dim bit why would you need to buy water? Why would it stop?

MyWaterButtisEmpty (so is mine!)

I hear you on the spirits but I need my red wine as well

I'm a prepper so this stuff doesn't scare me. I think ......
In terms of food, just have a think about what you actually eat. No point stocking up on beans and rice (prepper in-joke) if no one eats them.
For what it's worth, I'm thinking interrupted food supply not total apocalypse.
Imagine we all get snowed in for a short while. Think of it like that.
Head on over to the Prepper topic if you are looking for more ideas.

This is actually a great impetus to clear out your junk from your house and make more room...

Tapdancing: in case there’s any disruption to water supply, which again I think is very unlikely. But after 3 days of no water, you’d be in serious trouble so people like to keep some in store just in case. I just keep some collapsible 10L containers and will fill them last minute if needed.