Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I'm wondering if I should go buy seeds and attempt to kick start a patio garden. I live in a townhouse with minimal outdoor space but any veggies are better than no veggies.

That's a good idea on the garden.

AnalyticalEngine wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:59 am

I'm wondering if I should go buy seeds and attempt to kick start a patio garden. I live in a townhouse with minimal outdoor space but any veggies are better than no veggies.

Sprouts take less space and are apartment friendly.

EMJ wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:41 am

Sprouts take less space and are apartment friendly.

sprouts can give you a serious case of the runs:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sprouts- ... k_b_875103

unfortunately happens with home grown versions too

Sprouts are an idea, although it is true you have to be careful with food safety.

Does anyone have container veggies suggestions? I have quite a few extra pots from last year, but the veggies themselves were kind of a bust.

Kale, Cabbage, Broccoli and other brassicas are easy to grow, and a good way to harvest them is to pick the young top leaves before they mature. The young leaves are more tender and taste better. The plants are quite tough and can handle regular pruning.

AnalyticalEngine wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 09, 2020 11:26 am

Does anyone have container veggies suggestions? I have quite a few extra pots from last year, but the veggies themselves were kind of a bust.

i’ve had good results with indoor tomatoes, provided you’re in a sunny climate with a south-facing window. small/bush tomato varieties grow abundantly and quickly and can be easily plucked off as you go. outdoors: beware of birds eating them.

in a container i’d like to try chard, which at the store is $$ and you can’t find frozen.

best bang for the buck are also herbs. basil & mint can grows like weeds basically, and when you look at the store price of a miserable sprig of rosemary... wow. both basil & mint can keep (some) bugs away.

So my bathroom pipe decides to burst and pour water into the flat below. Fortunately my plumber seems to think the whole thing is bunkham and came around got it repaired. Just sterialised the bathroom.

Might be worth getting things repaired now before we go on lockdown.

I am thinking that a 6 month supply of food would be a good target. I have some foods stored for that length of time, but not all. I did an inventory and I am short beans, rice, oats and dried fruit. I have 2 liter of seed for broccoli and 6 liter of sunflower for microgreens, so that will last a long time. I have about 200 brassica mix seedlings started and will move them to the garden in a week or two, hoping they survive the frost. That will give me plenty of leaves to pick in a month or two. My strategy is beans, greens, fruit and grains. Maybe 20 lbs of pintos, a few pounds of assorted dried fruit, 20 lbs of rice and 20 lbs of multigrain cereal. That added to what I already have should keep me going for quite a while. The more I learn about the virus, the more concerned I am, not only with keeping enough food in the house, but also surviving the infection.

Went through our dry stash and between grains, beans, and nuts we have 200k kcal. Which is about 2 months of food for 2 people. We also have c. 10kg of fresh and (mainly) frozen fruits and veggies. Also just ordered groceries with delivery early next week. All in all, I think we have solid 3 months worth of food. Should be enough?

3 months is good but I'm increasingly feeling 6 months is worthwhile if you can to see you through to Autumn. At least of household essentials.

Just done a night shop at a 24hr Tescos, wasn't busy but shelves were a mess presumably from a busy day. Rice/Pasta almost out, some toilet paper on restrictive sale, no paracetamol or liquid soap. Other than that it was'nt too bad but this weekend will be carnage I expect. The checkout guy who does the night shift said he was having a very busy week. And he's off on a cruise soon.

Around 3 months of essentials now, food I'm going to have to count in the morning but hopefully around 6 weeks. Freezer is full. Very glad to have been weeks ahead of the curve. Felt partly guilty for buying 2 of everything and partly guilty for not buying more when I could.

Adrenaline has been surging through me all day...dizzy and lightheadedness with it all. Need to relax this weekend and forget about it all.

Anyone have any mental health prep advice? I have enough to sustain me physically but the dire situation is wearing me down.

AnalyticalEngine wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:47 pm

Anyone have any mental health prep advice? I have enough to sustain me physically but the dire situation is wearing me down.

Take a break from the news & social media, enjoy the outdoors. Watch Groundhog Day or Blazing Saddles. Talk to a friend about anything other than current topics.

I finally broke down and decided to look into the panic. I wasn’t ignoring it, just there was nothing pressing.

I have enough toilet paper for the next 3 months (lol) but I went and ordered some “handheld bidets” anyway. I can’t install one on my toilet so this is good plus it comes with traveling bags haha.

What else... stocked up on keto pantry supplies today. Everyone else was carting out crackers and stuff like that but in times of hunger keto is where it’s at. I have more coconut oil and chia than one can shake a stick at. Cans of fish, frozen berries... I don’t expect a real disaster just a slow down of some supplies.

Have plenty of washing supplies but bought an emergency bar of Bronner’s for the medicine box. The meds box is fully stocked with too many kinds of painkillers, allergy meds, bandages, etc.

Recently got an order of vitamin c powder that should last a year well managed. Cheap too.

I got some extra bottles of gin also hahahaha. Which in a pinch is disinfectant (internal)

Anyway I have a ton of flour and pasta and rice and beans and oats and barley to eat before I even scratch the surface of the keto backup... it’s gonna take some work to get there hahaha.

Looks like the milk supply will be steady, Plenty of milk at the supermarket today and doesn’t come from overseas. Will continue making yogurt.

Also noticed that the peanut butter was gone but there was plenty roasted peanuts

I might start fermenting some cabbage soon, although it’s not the season really... but eh, why not.

AnalyticalEngine wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:47 pm

Anyone have any mental health prep advice? I have enough to sustain me physically but the dire situation is wearing me down.

get your bicycle game in order and have a blast.

@Alphaville how long does the fermented cabbage last? I've been making kimchi, but I can only let it go about two weeks before it's too fermented for me to handle lol.

bigato wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 11, 2020 4:24 pm

Rice, beans and green leafs should keep you healthy for quite a while. Better if it is brown rice.

brown rice goes rancid after six months or so. it’s the oils in it. refrigerate (or freeze? not sure) for long-term storage.

otherwise, white rice lasts a looong time.

AnalyticalEngine wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 12, 2020 8:50 pm

@Alphaville how long does the fermented cabbage last? I've been making kimchi, but I can only let it go about two weeks before it's too fermented for me to handle lol.

once you put in the fridge it stops fermenting or at least slows to a crawl. i’ve kept jars the whole winter which is the traditional thing. the longer you keep it the softer the cabbage gets but it’s not “bad.”

so basically... shred cabbage, massage with sufficient salt (i use coarse, which has a grinding action), submerge in filtered water, let sit at room temperature, it will slowly start bubbling and turning.

one time i used so much salt it would not ferment. it just sat on the counter uncorrupted. i ate as pickled cabbage which, you know, works great too...