Show me your stockpiles

[SpunBodgeSquarepants]

Not because I'm keeping a list of who has food for when the shit hits the fan... Just because I'm a nosy bitch.

Here's mine - I started adding to it a few weeks ago. It's only me and almost 5yo DS I really have to worry about so I feel its almost there.

That sounds lovely!
I do get worried about botulism in canning, but I don't have any experience.

oh dear bellini, that sounds very, erm, difficult to deal with, all those accidents. If only you had some sort of beverage to ease the pain of such an accident prone life?

The key is in the preservation I always use the hot water method which you need tilde right equipment for but I think the oven method works too. The heating removes air from the jars and creates a vaccum . But can you get botulism from bottling fruit? I thought it just went mouldy?

Just looked it up. You can bottle high acid food such as apples, pears,citrus and rhubarb using a boil method of preserving as I do . Low acid such as potatoes, corn meat and fish must be pressure canned which I don’t have.

@KatyMac May I ask, what do you plan to do if our electricity goes off for more than a day? What will you do with all your frozen stuff? Do you have a back up plan/supply?

Why would we lose power for that long? I'm not anticipating power cuts which go on long enough to cause that kind of issue.

I'm loving that people have spreadsheets! I've added so much to my list after reading this thread. Hayfever tablets... didn't even think of those! What else might I have forgotten?? 🤔

Wish I had done a spreadsheet instead of scrappy handwritten list of various box contents. I know I have raided the boxes but not quite sure for what now.
Think I may need to do big ‘stocktake’ - blast from past - just remembered pre electronic stocktake stuff when shops shut ‘for stocktake’ - in fact I have done this in a young job remember counting everything - I may have long lost skills out into practice now.

Anyone have barcode reader for their Brexit boxes !? I’ll bet some (perhaps American) preppers do ?

Power cuts unlikely unless you live in NI. But if you live there you already know what a betrayal and a shitshow this is.

Apologies for bringing politics into it. Lots of "believe in the Brexit Fairies" on these threads this morning and I'm a bit fed up of it.

Yeah, I'm relieved we're no longer in NI ourselves. Betrayal and shitshow sounds about right.

I don't have a spreadsheet. I'm not great with spreadsheets in the first place, so thought that was an added stress I don't need, but I'm regretting it a bit. Not enough to make one.

I do have decent, hand-written lists that tell me how much of what I have, but no expiry dates. I'll rely on having a rummage every now and again to make sure I'll move anything to the cupboards of foods to use that needs using soon (I'm planning on keeping at least some level of stocks even if Brexit Fairies bring on the land of milk and honey; I have other reasons to stay prepared.)

Potato storage question: fridge or not fridge? They're not in a fridge in the shops. DM says to just keep them out of daylight. I'm used to keeping them in the veg drawer in the fridge, but my fridge isnt' that big, and I hope to get a larger than normal amount of root veg etc in. Should I only get unwashed potatoes if I'm keeping them out of the fridge? (I think our greengrocer would have those, luckily.) My DGP kept their whole year's potatoes in an earthen cellar, where the temperature must have varied quite a bit, and those seemed mostly okay, so I might be overthinking...

No, @croftermum I don't have a back up plan for no electric

Neither do I have a plan for no meds (DH will die, DD's life will be difficult and who knows what would happen to me), for rioting in the streets, for no water or for Zombies

I have a good supply of tinned food, insurance for the freezer food and solar panels that will provide a minimum of 1.5 times my average daily electric usage

I can only plan for what I can plan for - if it gets bad, we leave the country and move to Jamaica, or Sweden

I keep large sacks of potatoes in the garage, BadlyAgedMemes. Cool, dark and fairly dry is best. In paper or breathable sack not plastic. At this time of year they're liable to sprout, and the warmer it gets the quicker they'll go soft. I would have thought unwashed was better for storage but truth be told washed tends to store better for me... but maybe that's because I have an unexplained aversion to washing potatoes myself and a currently healthy supply, so tend to leave the unwashed longer than washed 😂

KatyMac are your solar panels not your backup if power supply is interrupted? :)

I don't have a power supply back up for fridge and freezer food. I happen to have a small camping stove with several canisters of gas, if power for cooking is interrupted, but that's just because I bought it for camping last year. Also have plenty of candles and matches if the lights go out, but I'm not anticipating problems with power.

Unless you want to go into full blown general prepping (see you on the Preppers topic if you are interested), there's no need to worry about power.
Being a general prepper I have that covered, but it isn't likely to be necessary for Brexit. And you aren't a Brexit prep "failure " if you haven't done anything for it.

Thanks ChakiraChakra - I'll probably try under the stairs - it won't be that cool, but it's dark and dry and not next to a heater at least. I won't try to get a huge amount, as there's only the two of us, and there's other carbs available, anyway.

My freezer is sadly tiny, so if I lost the food in it, I'd be annoyed, but it wouldn't be a catastrophy. I'm not expecting long power cuts, either, though. We just have the normal precautions of torches, batteries, candles and a little camping stove (and blankets, so many blankets.... I crochet when I'm stressed...)

I also crochet when stressed. Just a warning on the camping stove. Unless you are mindful of both great ventilation and general fire safety it is best to use a camping stove outside/on a balcony. While that should cover the ventilation issue, the fire safety issue is one to still consider.

Solar panels don’t give you back up power in the event of power cuts unless you have the ability to isolate them and go off grid and also the ability to store the energy you’re generating. Most systems don’t have this.

I prefer- and again this is not a Brexit thing, this is a general prepper thing - alternative non-electrical solutions where possible. Which makes you appreciate electricity.

it is best to use a camping stove outside/on a balcony

I think my plan (if I had to use the bloody thing) is to open the kitchen door and put the stove just outside on the concrete while I sit grumpily just inside (holding an umbrella, because obviously it would rain).

Umbrellas may be the key

Unless you are mindful of both great ventilation and general fire safety it is best to use a camping stove outside/on a balcony.

What about if you are mindful of both great ventilation and general fire safety and for those reasons you wouldn't dream of using a camping gas stove inside? ;)

I'm a little bit scared of my camping stove and that's probably the reason I'll be over not under cautious

Sadly, @ChakiraChakra , some people think a camping stove is like a gas hob and think you can treat it the same way - If it's inside your home it must be ok.
I stress again that camping stoves are not an essential part of Brexit preparedness- for all those lurkers that appear to be triggered by the suggestion that it might be an idea to get a small buffer of food in.

So this thread really has nothing to do with Brexit? Im not sure why I am here then! :) I live in a very rural small community in the very north of Scotland.. so basically, the opposite end of the country to dover. We rely on Tesco "click and collect" delieveries being brought from two and a half hours away to our local hotel carpark. For me, sticking up on frozen food doesn't make sence, as we often get power cuts even just in winter and spring time as it is - now to add Brexit in to the bag, yes I "am" worried about not being prepared. We have one very small Spar shop in the village. That's it. I certainly don't have the time to be thinking about recipies etc... just how to keep my autistic son healthy and happy. Id rather be prepared and be left feeling a bit silly when nothing happens, than be left feeling very scared and stupid if there was to be a disruption in our food supply, fuel and electricity supply. This is why I am here on this thread - to try to educate myself, and to be properly prepared. We even have fishing rods at the ready and vegetables and herbs growing everywhere. Im not looking to upset anyone here, or stor up nonsence, so I opologise if my previous question to katy came across that way.. it was merely a legitimate question. thanks

@croftermum , for your specific issue, can I recommend that you, longer term, consider broader food preservation tactics. So you can maximise the use of stuff bought in season.
I've been trotting out my "power cuts aren't a Brexit issue " loads and loads because loads of BeLeavers pop on and say that all Brexit prepping is nonsense because, look, they are all talking about power cuts and other hysterical nonsense.
Some people regardless of Brexit have power cuts issues which naturally means a threat to your freezer stash.
I have been amusing other general preppers with my dehydration adventures. I also pressure can stuff with an imported pressure canner: plenty of turkey taco meat (a fave here) stored in pint size (literally) jars in a cupboard. No electricity required for storage. But this is a general prepper thing not a Brexit thing. Pop over to the Preppers topic and ask questions about strategies for power cuts.