Impact of extreme weather on world food production

[Eclectickle]

Please delete. Thanks. x

[preppingsu]

I agree that this is looking like growing into a real problem.

What am I doing?

I have good stocks of tinned potatoes and vegetables.

I have a freezer full of home reared meat.

I will be growing as much veg and fruit as possible and then preserving (freezing, dehydrating and chutneys/jams etc).

To help this I have just purchased a second polytunnel. 2 polytunnels and a greenhouse will provide a good amount of undercover growing space.

I am hoping to seed save as much as possible this year to help with next years growing.

I will be increasing my stocks of flour etc over the next few weeks. Some will go into the rotational stocks, some will be mylared for longer term storage.

[jansman]

Like Su, I think this could be an issue. Start stocking a bit more grub. If you can, grow it.

[PreppingPingu]

I am thinking very raised beds may be an answer to low level flooding (tyre stack, and double heighted raised beds.

[jansman]

I am thinking very raised beds may be an answer to low level flooding (tyre stack, and double heighted raised beds.

Positive and constructive thinking, that.

[itsybitsy]

I will be growing more this year in the garden. As I have to rely on tubs it makes things a little more challenging, but I will invest in some more. I've got two or three of the old style black recycling boxes that the council gave us years ago, which are really deep and can be used for potatoes. As well as the usual bits and bobs, I've also recently bought quite a lot of seeds from Real Seeds and am pretty stoked about the unusual varieties I've got. I'm going to buy a plastic greenhouse this year, too.

I will sort out the food that I've already got in my stores and plug any gaps or replenish items that have been depleted.

My freezer is full to bursting right now, but I am looking for another to put in the garage. I should be able to pick up a second hand one for about £40.00 or even less, hopefully.

I tried growing raspberries and blackcurrants a couple of years ago which was a complete disaster - I didn't get ONE berry. I'm going to try again this year, and hopefully at least I will get *something*!

[preppingsu]

I tried growing raspberries and blackcurrants a couple of years ago which was a complete disaster - I didn't get ONE berry. I'm going to try again this year, and hopefully at least I will get *something*!

Fruit like that is a long term investment. You may not get anything the first year, but with some looking after they should fruit the following years.

[cpslashm]

I am thinking very raised beds may be an answer to low level flooding (tyre stack, and double heighted raised beds.

As mentioned elsewhere, I am going down the hugelkultur route. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=9118&hilit=+hugelkultur (bottom of the page).

I am expecting weather to start getting bad within the next three years. What we've had so far will have been a walk in the park. Discussion was around 2nd Jan viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9112&hilit=harvests with a graph on page 2.

Expect hurricanes in the next decade. Cutting emissions won't make a blind bit of difference now.

Finding ways to grow food is going to be far more important long-term than hoarding when cheap, so the efforts of posters here are heartening!

[featherstick]

It's an interesting discussion, and for me this is at the heart of our prepping dilemma. Sometimes I feel that my little stores are only to make me feel slightly better in the face of massive planet-wide changes and influences that care not one bit about me and can sweep me aside in an instant. I look at my little allotment and wonder really whether it would make any difference if we had a series of world-wide weather events, or a massive collapse, or other disruption. Then I just get on with the digging, and reflect that we would probably dig up the playing fields and the park pretty quickly too if we needed to. My volunteering also helps, I can tell myself that every family I help to grow a few more spuds or beetroot is that bit better prepared then they were beforehand.

[ForgeCorvus]

..... I can tell myself that every family I help to grow a few more spuds or beetroot is that bit better prepared then they were beforehand.

And, therefore become part of the solution not part of the problem.