Winter 2020...

[Uptheclarets]

Been lingering for a while now. Thanks everyone for all the tips. Out of curiosity, if covid19 is going the way the Spanish flu did, what are you putting into place re food to get you through the winter months especially with shortages.

Also I realised that, where we live, we are ‘prepped’ without realising it. So if we get heavy snowfall we struggle to get out and we have to account for that each October for example. Our winter stuffs done late summer normally.

I think prepping should also include other things apart from groceries. For example, I've realised that my village will do anything for each other and that I could actually eat takeaways from restaurants every night if I wanted to. We need a good list of suppliers, friends and neighbours that will help and organisations to call on if we need help.

Hell, make a file!

I am including seeing the GP to try and get a handle on this fatigue. Can't prep if I can't move.b

@BlackeyedSusan 100%, self care is so important... if you’re not as well as you can be you can’t help others.
It’s doubtful my youngest will ever live independently and as my husband has a terminal illness (not terminal yet but he has 10 years max) I have to look after myself. Running every day, sleeping well and maintaining my mental health with anti depressants are all prepping in their own way!

@BlackeyedSusan what Christmas food are you buying now?

I am trying to keep my stocks up, and looking at what has been used in current situation to adjust what to stock up on better.

Someone asked about frozen meat. We have always had a decent freezer of leftovers in single or double portions, and also raw meat. Things like turkey stock and gravy have often been put in at Christmas and only been used for thanksgiving in late November (I just do a turkey breast after work so shortcuts are important). And blanched veg from our own garden harvests.

And some meat and some cooked meals can be in there well over a year, we freeze carefully, and do throw out everything if we've had a thaw, defrost properly, and have never had an issue with any illness from anything that has been frozen. So as long as you do it properly, longer term freezing isn't a problem.

We've also been doing a lot of maintenance on the house, painting window frames on the wooden windows, and masonry etc, cleaning filters indoors, trying to clear out again.

I know we need to get the boiler serviced this year.

A winter lockdown and bug would be so much harder. We've had lovely weather and queues in the sun. We need to put our heads together to make sure we can positively get through another one.

I think we all need to read up and adopt some aspects of Hygge.

I agree with that @ReinventingMe . Much as love snuggling down in front of the TV with a cuppa or some wine at night, I've worked from home in the winter and making sure I'm warm, exercised and have access to fresh air is essential.
I'm a great believer in doing something unpleasant but what I need to do and then rewarding myself.
I have MS so making sure I get some Vitamin D from sun even in winter is one of those unpleasant chores.
Make sure you all have good coats for the rain. And wellies or similar. Your children too. Maybe next size up for kids too.

Hot water bottles for when waiting in the queues. I Have long narrow one can wrap round keep chill away

Does anyone know where there are Panasonic bread makers still in stock? The only one I can find is well over £300 on eBay.

Try Argos for breadmakers

Re dehydrators - how do you store the produce?

I too am turning my thoughts to managing winter/spring shortages. I also thought a dehydrator would a good product to have in any event. I don’t have a freezer. Live on my own and eat very simply. I seem to manage on dried and tinned goods to make ratatouille. Being able to dehydrate mushrooms, peppers for sauce and berries for pudding, cereal topping and vitamins would be reassuring and a good long term action.

I hadn't given much thought to winter queues but that is good advice. I have a huge coat with a hood that is like wearing a duvet...

I think the biggest thing will be mental health prepping, as far as it is possible to do. I found my mental health improved recently when I started cutting right down on my news intake, so that is something I'll bear in mind if/when things hot up again. I've also found the Calm app really helpful in past winters during normal times to relax me before bed, the stories read by Stephen Fry are excellent and I like the different background sounds you can choose for the meditations. Falling rain one works amazing well every time and I'm out like a light

I also need to find some youtube exercise channels for kids that a grumpy 12 year old boy will think is cool and be happy to follow along with. Anyone have any recs?

I was going to replace my good winter commuting coat a couple of months ago, as the current one is starting to show wear and age. It's a good Isle Jacobbsen one, down to my knees and both wind and water-proof. Great for standing on wet and windy train platforms, and walking along streets with massive potholes that buses like to drive through at speed (splashing pedestrians as they go!). But I hadn't yet got around to it, and am now rethinking that plan slightly.

As I think I need to buy a decent moped or lower cc engine motorbike (not a massive powerful yoke) and the proper safety and weather gear for that - I don't think the train will be such a good idea for the next while, and I am neither fit enough to cycle (it's 12km, and a number of hills) nor happy to do it late at night (I have a new role that will likely see me needing to be in the office until 10pm many evenings). I won't necessarily get a car space so I think that is the best alternative - there is space for bikes and motorbikes in the building. I just have to persuade DH now....

I think is very wise to stock ups for the winter now. Not necessarily for food, but things that we don't necessarily think about will become hard to get. Time to make you masks now, get candles to cheer us up in the cold, stock up on arts and crafts and good books.

DH was trying to get masks this morning, a supplier who had said they'd be available at 9am. He was on bang on the time, got them into his basket, but by the time he had input his address, they were sold out and his were gone from the basket.

So making more masks has gone back on my list.

Meanwhile, we have been asked to conserve water here due to the dry spring. The whole country has been asked, but particularly the Dublin region where production is at max capacity and only keeping up with demand. (Dublin region is chronically on the edge, and has been for some years, but they cannot seem to get organised to invest in more capacity....). And household use is up 20% at present (business use well down, but not enough to offset household rise). Irish Water expects a surge as businesses go back, and have to flush out storage tanks and pipes, and do a lot of cleaning after being closed for 2-3 months. And our water butt is practically empty (spring seedlings and no rain).

More in "I really should have some, the last spare stocks were used up a couple of years ago" mode, I had picked up 2 x 5l bottles of drinking water in February (and I can very happily reuse those bottles). And I have an empty 10l barrel for camping that I keep at home, just in case I need spare capacity. But it wasn't seriously on my mind as a potential necessity unless we had a very dry summer like last year....might need to start keeping an eye on some water gauges again.

I don't have a dehydrator, but I do buy dehydrated mushrooms (various types) from the Chinese supermarket near my office in town, and use those in risottos and mushroom soups a lot. I rehydrate them in a little warm water for a few minutes, and then tend to use that water (once drained to remove any gritty bits in the bottom) as part of the stock for the dish.

Day off work to make masks for the family.

This thread focusing my mind thank you.

Before winter I must get my family used to tinned and frozen fruit and veg, they have been spoiled with fresh stuff always being available. Time to get a taste for it gradually and for the minds to shift.

Frozen veg is fine as they don't know, frozen berries in smoothies are great but they are resisting tinned fruit, I was brought up on it so can't understand why they aren't excited by cling peaches and evap.

I made some chutney last night. All labelled up and stowed away for winter.

Today I have sorted through the kitchen cupboards and cellar to update the spreadsheet. Tomorrow I will do the under stairs pantry (very awkward to get to) and the garage.

I want to create a seeds and gardening inventory. So I know what to stock up on for next spring.

Project winter/peak two

Things I want to stock up on now which will help me with creating food with our garden harvests:
Wax discs
Jam jar lids
Rubber seals
Extra bottling funnel
Cellophane circles as lid back ups
Elastic bands (I have a good amount but always need more)
String
Sugar

Things I’ve already stocked up on:
Citric acid
Malt vinegar
White vinegar
Cider vinegar
Red wine vinegar
White wine vinegar
Rice vinegar
Pickling vinegar
Table salt
Rock salt
Pickling spices
Mace
All spice
Mixed spice
Cinnamon sticks

Christmas food:
Stuffing bought last Oct for next year. It will be just past bbd but is ok well after bbd.
Schloer, 1 year date, bought last October.
Custard powder/sachets and tins.
Fizzy pop now has a date of Dec/Jan
Crackers ( eat) long bbd and keep well past if sealed.
Cranberry sauce

The extras that make it Christmassy.

Also Christmas presents

Thanks to these threads over the last year I was prepared for Covid19, largely because I was prepared for brexit and a personal thanks to @bellinisurge who I credit with introducing me to prepping.

Things that I have learnt that I need more of over the first month of lockdown - I have been surprised and horrified at the level of sweets, treats and biscuits that we seem to get through as a three. DS is young, I’m furloughed and DP is self employed so sort of furloughed and we are in wales where the lockdown allowed on for one daily exercise until this week. We’ve stuck to the rules to the letter and I think we’ve eaten so much as a reaction to it.

I didn’t have freezer space for milk and didn’t get long life, but I finally bit the bullet and got milk delivered. It’s pricey but worth it for the peace of mind of not having to nip to the local shop to top up.

We’ve got a tiny backyard but DP is currently revamping it so I’m going to sit him down tonight and talk seriously about increasing growing space. We’ve got a shed and I want to discuss increasing storage space.

With regards to Christmas presents and clothes in next sizes you etc, can I ask why people are buying those? Is it in anticipation of money being tight or is it supply issues?

With regards Christmas, the things we already have food wise are:

After Eights
Jars of mincemeat
Custard
Christmas pudding (has a 2021 date)
Nut
Crackers

Oh and stuffing, lots of stuffing!
We usually make our own but this would do in a bind.