How are you "managing" your "stockpile"?

[MrsJonesAndMe]

With everything up in the air as it is, are you using it, leaving it well alone, adding to it or using but replacing so things are getting rotated?

I've got a bit of dried goods and toiletries which I'm using but replacing but leaving freezer food alone for now and just getting what I need in small amounts as I don't have much room in the freezer at all now.

Just wondered what everyone else is doing?

I think I've just decided to restock before the elections actually. The pressure for no deal looks likely to increase due to the fuckwittery if the Brexit party.

@londonloves , not looking good is it?

Is it technically possible to no deal during the extension period?

Honestly I'm barely reading or watching anything about Brexit anymore, can't fucking bear it. I'm actually going to be away when the election happens (proxy vote applied for), with some amazing Greek friends who think the UK has gone mad. So I will just watch drunkenly from afar for ten days but am aiming to have a totally full "bunker" ready on my return. Maybe fuller than it was before. My shed is leaking though so that complicates things a bit.

@NoWordForFluffy , if we haven't sorted this nonsense out by 31 October then .....

I don't have a stockpile. I'm now in the process of eating the freezer contents as I'm moving house soon.

@bellinisurge, yes, I know that we could crash out at Halloween, but talking of increasing the stockpile now in case of crash out seems a bit keen, that's all. I'm going to keep eating mine and replace it much later on in the year if necessary.

As always @NoWordForFluffy , what works for you, your budget, your physical space, your equilibrium.
We are now addicted to Polish Lion bars and Jaffa cakes as well as Indian chilli and lime crisps, thanks exclusively to these threads.

Brexit party has no MPs, never mind a majority of MPs in the HoC, so whatever they achieve (or don’t) in the Eu elections has no impact on ‘leave’ date of 31st October as that can only get changed if a resolution to leave 31/10 gets passed through HoC. That would require a majority of MPs to vote for it.

before 31/10

I'm just not sure it's entirely healthy to panic about no deal just yet, at 5 1/2 months before the deadline.

That's the point @NoWordForFluffy , not to panic about it. Reflect on lessons learned, consider if you want to do anything in advance of 31 October. If so, when ? Or whether you need to say to yourself "not now but by X date, I'll look at again ".

And if you are having a go at veg gardening, now would be the time to do it anyway.

But people clearly ARE panicking, judging by comments, @bellinisurge, that's my point.

Psychologically that isn't healthy, especially this far from the deadline.

Prepare, plan, whatever. But increasing anxiety levels now isn't going to help anyone; that way madness lies.

Veg growing should've been planned before now, I agree with that. I've got an allotment and garden full.

I haven't seen any panic. Unless thinking about doing things differently in the light of recent events and having a fuller pantry counts as panic.

Saying you can't bear to read about something suggests a heightened level of anxiety and potentially panic, in my opinion.

Nothing concrete has happened yet; it's all supposition.

I'm fine with prepping and forward purchasing, as you should be aware. But, I also think it's fine to be aware that we need to take care of our mental health in all this. Which means keeping as calm as possible at this point.

I can't bear to read about it because I fucking hate Farage and that level of hatred coursing through my veins is best avoided.
I'm just buying some extra bags of rice, not panicking. But if you want to spend your time worrying about my psychological state, crack on.

I put all the cans and packets on the table, and sorted according to expiry date. Now I have cans in boxes labelled 2021, and packets in airtight tubs, mostly 2020. I still buy a couple of extra things each week, and will rotate when BBE is during 2022.

We're slowly working our way through the freezer, to see which of the cooked meats are best when defrosted. Then I'll stock up again over the summer, and this time I'll label everything.

Tbh, I've stopped listening to the news. It was making me rather edgy. No idea how I'll be by Halloween, when my SAD is starting to kick in.

Crisps and chocolate have been scoffed by yours truly due to stress 🤦‍♀️

Other than that I don’t have much of a stockpile atm.

No panic here, just planning. I've done more with the veg this year, within the constraints of container gardening (apart from berries). Have got potatoes, tomatoes, one lonely cucumber (the other two were broken during transit from the supplier, and they had no more to replace it with), dwarf runners, a bell pepper and a chilli plant. Also cucamelons and hopefully Tiger nuts IF I can get them to germinate!

We do need to reduce what's in a freezer over this month and next as the berry season is approaching and I'm going to need to freeze quite a lot.

Gardening helps with mental health as well - an added benefit

I am clearing the jungle at the back of church. The bits I have cleared are staying cleared; a few little weeds have tried to grow. It has been unattended for two summers. A vicar left and a couple who used to do it got ill. I intend to plant out and experiment with stuff this summer.

I seem to be in a calm interval between Brexit deadlines... All a bit unreal. I intend to keep the stashes that are out of the way as a backup. Eat anything short dated. Get under the stairs and retrieve the crisps work out how long it takes us to eat stuff and adjust the stockpile accordingly.

Ooo @BlackeyedGruesome , that actually sounds like an interesting experiment. Last year, my my little garden, I did a project of "grow my Christmas dinner " - well, the veg bit. It kept things small scale and realistic and allowed me to experiment. Never grown carrots or parsnips before. Or sprouts - delicious with bacon but I know that not everyone goes for that. I had grown spuds before and I have a little red currant Bush for jelly. But it went well as an experiment, made a nice "cover" for growing other veggies too. Going for swede this year as a new thing because it apparently has loads of vitamin C and, frankly, I love swede.
Check out Huws Nursery- he's ace.

Thanks for the tip I will look at some videos when I get chance. The beans are currently next to the open kitchen window as there is nowhere safe to put baby plants outside to harden off. In a couple of days I will take them to their future homes before I can no longer get them out of the flat as they are growing very fast.