Prepping Bargain Buys?

[ElyElyOy]

I didn’t know if anyone fancies sharing their prepping bargain buys?

Today for me it was seeds and loo roll from Poundstretcher: packets of veg seeds (expire 2021) for 20p each (they had flower seeds too if you want a pretty apocalypse), and 18 pack of loo roll £2.99 for one or £5 for two.

Excellent. It's a great idea to look at what stuff your family will eat and which is easy to grow.

Also Aldi generally- has some bargain camping stuff at the mo. I bought a merino wool jumper there for myself a few months ago - not top quality but cheap and warm. Got some for dd which she has used too.

I found a cluster of ceps (porcini mushrooms) growing in the woods and so as well as a big stash which is now about to go into the dehydrator I know the right spot...

Preps for free.

Foraging is great. Blackberries in abundance right now - you can make jam. Also rosehips- dehydrating more today for tea in the winter. Sadly not enough for rosehip syrup or jam- Vit C right there.

Our blackberries were rubbish unfortunately but the mushrooms seem to have gone crazy this year. Rowan berries in abundance for rowan jelly.

Derailing the thread slightly here - we should have a foraging thread if there isn't one already because if the S really did HFT then tins are not going to last forever and it could be important to know that you can eat hawthorn leaves for example or make a coffee substitute from acorns.

New foraging discovery for me was dandelions - made delicious dandelion jam from the flowers this year.
Haven't used the leaves for salad or the roots for coffee but I know you can. I grow nasturtiums and the leaves are delicious.

A foraging thread is a great idea: especially as it will be different throughout the year :)

(Although my paltry efforts this year didn’t even result in one apple and blackberry crumble :( )

@ElyElyOy - plenty of opportunities right now to try stuff out. Keep your eyes peeled locally for blackberries. I recently went head to head with a pensioner over a patch - ended with my diplomatic withdrawal and a rueful smile exchanged.
Rowanberries make good jam too.
Rosehips are fab - my old neighbour used to make them.

I've just had a short lesson from my Polish friend on which mushrooms are edible. Its prime season and they are everywhere in our woods. Bolete (porchini/cep) are really easy to identify since they have spongey undersides rather than visible gills. Apparently its the way of things in Poland to forage for mushrooms and my friends thinks we are crazy for not doing it and also thinks its strange that we don't have the knowledge.
She's taken away a decent sized basket (and I'm praying she's still alive tomorrow )

@bellinisurge I think the problem I have with blackberries is that we moved to a new area (with a VERY high average age) and all the local pensioners are there at the crack of dawn picking them dry

I’m hoping to go on a foraging course, more for the natural health remedies side of it than food prepping: I just hope it’s not all mushroom focussed

Pesky pensioners . We have loads more right by our house but as well as being effective intruder deterrents they are also effective bellini deterrents. I have, as you might expect, all sorts of gear to protect me me but, it seems that I just .... can't.....reach.
Was actually eyeing it up again this morning.

A foraging course will struggle to be mushroom focused if its not autumn so if you time it right you should be fine.

Foraging for health remedies course sounds cool. I have a book or two on it but no replacement for a course in your local area.

Id love a foraging book recommendation please especially for mushrooms

I have a Collins Gem book called Food for Free. Dh bought it for me years ago - pocket sized book. That's a uk one and massively useful. I have another called Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman which is what passes for coffee table reading for me. It's a bit silly in parts - cure for cancer ffs - lost both parents to cancer and am a bit pissed off about hippy nonsense "cures". I have another called The Complete Illustrated Guide to Natural Home Remedies- edited by Karen Sullivan.
Again, I take a pinch of salt with a lot of ideas here.
My main aim is to find ideas for colds, fevers and cleaning wounds. Beyond that I'm a bit more sceptical.

I have the same book.

Yes I’m definitely in it more for the “coughs, colds, aches and pains” than the “magically cure tumours and infertility” crap that some people seem to spout.

Oooh thanks bellini, definitely getting the first one, might leave the cancer cure one

For "bargains", I'd suggest having a think about stuff you use daily but need electricity for. A couple of big cheapo garden bucket things for laundry.
Or there's a cleaning product you use regularly and would be a bit without . Are there any substitutes that have multiple uses? Soda crystals or something. Dead cheap and dead handy. Don't need to use them all the time but getting to grips with them might help if you run out of a fave.
Or turning to what we preppers pompously call "morale boosters", like a beauty product or some other treat.
Anything you could make yourself as a substitute- might not be so convenient or, talking to myself here, so yummy. But anything you could have a go at making yourself with cheaper shelf stable ingredients. Or you could just buy something in a sale to put away and bring out when you need cheering up.

Just wanted to add the Olio App to this: not a bargain buy as such, but people giving away free food - which I’m sure some preppers could make use of! A friend at work mentioned they did it to off load unwanted veggies from their allotment. It’s free to register for the app.

Handy free food preps and also waste reducing :)

Interesting- I preserve loads in my pressure canner but my garden has yielded most of its goodies and supermarket "reductions " are patchy.