So how was 2011 ? - from a prepping pov

[Carrot Cruncher]

Instead of asking about what peoples plans are for 2012 (lets face it...most of us never do all we set out to do) how about a look back at 2011, what did we actually achieve in 2011 prepping wise ?

I'll start with a few

Met up with fellow preppers on 3 separate occasions (different people each time).....mostly nice sensible people

Increased my store of food..... not as much as I planned though and still a long way to go

2nd year of growing veg..... not much of a success to be honest

Bought myself a decent Bow....just waiting for postie to bring me some matched arrows

Converted a small shed into a Genny shed.....pretty much worked out well

Got a trailer for the Pushbikes......haven't sorted the connection to the bike out yet though

I'm sure there's more but if I had to give myself a mark for the year I reckon it would be a "C" at best, "must try harder"....story of my life

So what did you achieve ?

Lets try and keep it prepping related

[the-gnole]

Second year of the allotment, grew some food, made some money from excess.

Bought more kit.

Lowered the debts.

Met a few other preppers.

Lowered my chances of starvation. (I put on a few Lbs)

Increased the nest egg.

Put a few more rabbits in the freezer.

[preppingsu]

Increased our growing area - continued to learn about what grows well and doesn't. Will increase area again in 2012.

For the first 6 months increased food stocks to be ready for the second part of the year when money has ben tight. Used some of the food stocks so it does work!!!

Got 4 more chickens so increased egg production. Will look at meat production in 2012.

Managed to get neighbour with land on board with the idea of keeping pigs in 2012.

Practised bread making skills in various forms.

Continued to read and build knowledge base.

[pseudonym]

Increased food and water storage.

Downloaded more info, slowly making my way through it.

Joined this Forum.

[diamond lil]

Increased food stash, cut down on household bills/freed up more spending money, got chickens and sorted out the veg plot.

[skippy]

Hmmm ... increased the food store from 1 to 3 months
Got a water filter
Made a plan to restrict access to our farm ...

skippy

[Rosesandtea]

Did a third garden, learned more.

Learned some basket making (2 baskets made).

Increased food stores.

Reduced debt a bit.

Continued shooting.

Bought some calcium hypochloride for water purification.

Read and read some more about animal husbandry of all sorts.

Just a few days ago learned to pluck and draw poultry.

One thing that did not get done, was working on radio skills because we did not have the money for kit. Sad, because we got our licenses in 2010. However earlier this month we got some little handhelds and hopefully we will be able to figure out how to use them and get on the air.

[nickdutch]

Learned heat retention cooking

Learned canning

Made 150 Watts of solar from broken cells and bought a grid tie inverter

Had fun with wood gas stoves

Made olive oil lanterns and have the wick and wire at hand in case I need more

Started learning slingshot catapult

Did some dehydrating

Stocked up on lentils and rice for the winter

Bought long sleeves thermal vests for the winter

Gave up smoking (nearly 4 months!!)

Got most of my dental work done so that if the worst comes to the worst, I wont have to get that done under more difficult circumstances (such as no, or diminished NHS)

And much much more.

Still more to do as I progress towards a safer way of life.

Its not "Prepping", I am just cautious that's all

[Rosesandtea]

Gave up smoking (nearly 4 months!!)

Got most of my dental work done so that if the worst comes to the worst, I wont have to get that done under more difficult circumstances (such as no, or diminished NHS)

Great job with the smoking cessation!

Getting your teeth seen to is an excellent prep, and a much overlooked one. Also any medical needs that have been put off by either you or the doctor (my husband got robbed off a bit with his hernias and by the time they got done they were huge and harder to deal with), might ought to be dealt with sooner in the coming year rather than later - make a fuss!

Sorry to hijack, Nick. Well done to all who have posted, some of your feats have made me think a bit.

[diamond lil]

This is the strength of this forums R&T, that we united are strong and ideas are shared. YAAAAAY US !