Friesland Farm

16/10/2026

I dont know how the weather is going to pan out over the Winter or next year but there is a lot of talk about it.

I do know that last year was dry and this year was worse and that the farmers are constantly warning about the knock on effects of this.

Growing your own is easier than you might think and you don’t need masses of space or a vegetable garden for it.
Next year I am planning on growing things like French beans in amongst my flowers and shrubs.

You might not like runner beans or French beans as a green but having you considered growing them to maturity and then drying the beans themselves?
You can do this with kidney beans, haricot beans (think baked beans) Broad beans dried become fava beans (technically it should be field beans but broad beans work as well) Butterbeans and even chick peas! Grow your own endemame beans or soya beans, the latter loves the heat so it’s a win win.

16/10/2026

Can’t believe I am still picking ripe tomatoes in mid October!

09/10/2026

Interesting that even the National Grid is asking you to have a power out plan.
If you click on the link there is a handy little process to go through that tells you what you need depending on your circumstances.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1FNmjRg4Uo/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Answer a few questions about your home and we'll put together a plan built around your household. No account needed, and it only takes about 5 minutes.

09/10/2026

A big spend does not mean the food costs more.

I went to a local butcher this morning and bought a fair amount of chicken and beef in various forms including whole chickens and a couple of pieces of roasting beef. I also bought mince, diced beef, chicken thighs and chicken breast.

At first glance the total looks high but once I have divided/diced/portioned it up the cost becomes very good value per person for quality meat.

I am pressure canning some diced beef, mince beef and I diced the chicken breast for canning as well.
Chicken thighs, minced beef and diced beef were also vacuum packed into portions for the freezer. The whole chickens and beef joints will stay whole for roasting but I will get two meals for 2 people out of the beef joints (if not more) the same for the whole chicken plus a carcass for soup or stock.

So my initial outlay breaks down into £2.79 per portion which is not bad.

The two different storage methods give me options, if I remember to get something out of the freezer in the morning all well and good. If I forget or I am very busy I can grab something off the shelf instead.

07/10/2026

The reasons why in my opinion storing a small buffer of drinking water makes sense.

It could be argued that the water companies will provide water stations and that’s true (who wants to sit in those queues though) but let’s look at the background of our water supply.

Our society is growing exponentially therefore the demands are greater than ever. Not just for drinking water but for industries such as data centres, agriculture, construction, pharmaceuticals and clean energy.

Even though water is constantly recycled, the useable freshwater available at any time is finite! Water could be efficiently distributed to all these areas if the systems were in top condition but we know they are not and we know that getting them to that point will take billions in investment and many years, probably decades.

The weather patterns play a part on the infrastructure of our water supply systems (largely outdated and under pressure) We all learnt about freeze/thaw and the effects that has on the ground (think pot holes) but drought/flood has a similar effect and affects ground movement.

Longer drought periods cause deeper soil shrinkage, intense downpours cause rapid swelling and together the repeated cycle causes cumulative stress on the underground pipes. Out dated, old pipe systems are going to fail more frequently than they used to.

It is not just the lack of investment for the infrastructure but also the reduction in the number of staff to fix those increasing leaks that adds to the problem.

We used to rely on our own local wells. Now we rely on corporate companies who often seem more focused on dividends and bonuses than on investing in the future security of our water supply 🙄

So for me not leaving it to chance and having bottles of drinking water stored for burst pipes, contamination notices or frozen pipes is a no brainer!

06/10/2026

Resilience during power outages.

We are pretty good at this because we have on average 5 power cuts a year! Some very short, some a bit longer and one or two in the past have been many hours and into the night.

Whatever time of year it goes out independent solar powered anything is the way to go (charging in the summer is best but it will still charge through the winter just more slowly)

Have the number of your power supply somewhere handy, or stored on your phone. (You can minimise battery use on your phone by putting it in flight mode and only switching over when you need to make or receive a call)

Solar powered camping lights are great, they give off a good amount of light and usually have a handle so you can hang them up.
Solar powered radio means you won’t be sitting in the dark in silence.
Solar powered battery packs for charging your phones etc

Torches, don’t forget a good supply of batteries and a head torch is a great addition because it frees up your hands. Wind up torch

Candles, personally I would never use candles but if you do then have a small supply of them and don’t forget the matches.

In Summer loss of power is not too bad you can still function and you don’t get cold. You can use the BBQ to cook on, cold drinks are welcome and it stays light until bedtime.

Winter is when you want to be most prepared for a loss of power.
It’s cold and dark so if the heating is off think about how you will keep warm, if you have a wood burner you are totally sorted for warmth and possibly cooking depending on the type. But even a small flat topped wood burner will hold a kettle or a pan (you do need a kettle that is specifically for direct heat obviously)

In winter you probably need some way of heating up food and drinks if you don’t have an open fire or a wood burner. A small camping stove and gas canister would be ideal, used outside on the patio or in an open sided porch is better than nothing.

If you don’t have any other form of heating then you need to be making one room your warm space, extra clothing, blankets, sleep in a sleeping bag if you have one, you can even put a small tent on top of the bed and sleep inside that (think four poster bed with curtains and that’s the idea) keep a couple of hot water bottles in the cupboard!

You can also get something like a Jackery power bank, powered by a fold up solar panel and has charging points for phones, usb points and three pin sockets (you can get low wattage kettles to plug in to these)

We have one that we use all year long, we charge it up using the solar panel then use it to charge our phones, toothbrush anything rechargeable every day. It has a very powerful light on it as well and we bought a low watt kettle for emergency cups of tea 😊

Make sure that all of your emergency power out items are somewhere you can easily find them in the dark! There is nothing worse than trying to locate various items in pitch black conditions, put them all in one box somewhere that is accessible.

Limit the amount of times you open your fridge and freezer.

Think about power outages and how you would manage for different lengths of time that way you will understand the different levels of resilience you will need for your household.
1-6 hrs
6-12 hrs
12-24hrs
24-48hrs
Or longer
It is also worth thinking about your plans for localised outages (when you could probably go to a cafe or a pub in the next town to get something to eat or warm up) or county/national power outages (far less likely but never say never!)

06/10/2026

I thought I might carry on with the resilience a little bit and move to a resilient or self reliant household.

What does that even look like?

Resilience is the ability to cope under pressure, bounce back from difficulties and adapt to adverse happenings of any kind.

It just means having a supply of something that can carry you through any hiccups you encounter.

I am pretty sure anyone in this area will remember the queues of traffic when a huge water main burst!

How many of you now keep a supply of bottled water just in case? Luckily for us we were already doing exactly that and so we did not have to go and sit in a queue to get any. That’s resilience.

Water is life, it is the most important element for all living things including us so why would you leave it to chance?

Here is what I have learnt about keeping water:
Store different size bottles because once you have opened a big bottle you either use it or waste it if you only needed a small amount. Having different sizes gives you options.
If you store in a cool dark place the plastic does not degrade so fast which is what the use by date is for. The water inside is always going to be fine as long as the bottle is not compromised in any way. And if it comes to the use by date and you don’t want to drink it keep it anyway it will be handy for flushing the toilet/cleaning/washing up.

You can buy 25lt food safe containers and fill them from the mains, they will store for 6 months some where cool and dark and give you real flexibility if the water is off for any reason. If you write the month you filled them up on the container itself then you will know when they need to be used by.

Keep 2-3 litres per person per day which will cover drinking and hygiene (decide how many days you want to cover your household for and do the maths) Rotate your store of water every 6-12 months depending on the use by date.

Don’t forget extra for your pets.

Just as a side note if things were extreme and you have a hot water cylinder, it’s full of potable (drinkable) water, you are welcome 😉

Boiling, using purification tablets or basic filtration methods can be used to make other water sources safe but you should always do your research and familiarise yourself with the process.

06/10/2026

Remember the batch bake cakes I did?
Well a couple of people have asked for the recipe so I thought I would put it on here.
This is a great all purpose mix if you don’t have many eggs as it partly uses oil.

This is the basic recipe for all of them, then minor changes depending on what flavour you want to do.

300g self‑raising flour or plain flour and 1tsp baking powder per 100g of flour. (You can also get aluminium free baking powder which is the one I use)
• 200g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 150ml neutral oil (sunflower/rapeseed)
• 150ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Heat oven to 160°C fan
2. Whisk eggs + oil + milk + vanilla
3. Add sugar
4. Fold in flour + salt
5. Bake 45–55 mins in a 2lb tin
Skewer test, insert a skewer and if it comes out clean the cake is done, if not clean the skewer and try again after 5/10mins.

In all honesty I just put it all in and whisk with the electric whisk 🤪

For chocolate cake,(omit the vanilla) it’s 250g flour and 50g of cocoa and I just put a few spoonfuls of choc chips in.

For a fruit version (omit the vanilla) add in 150g of fruit plus spices cinnamon /ginger/nutmeg etc

Vanilla is just a dash of vanilla essence.

Lemon, I used a couple of teaspoons of lemon powder but lemon juice and zest would work.

04/10/2026

I hope the resilient pantry has been interesting and useful. I have learnt a lot over the years of keeping a good store cupboard and it is something I enjoy using along with fresh and frozen produce.

A resilient pantry means having a calm, steady buffer of everyday food that lets you cook proper meals even when life gets inconvenient, bad weather, illness, supply hiccups, tight weeks, or simply not getting to the shops. It’s about confidence, not stockpiling.

It isn’t about hoarding tins or preparing for dramatic emergencies. It’s a quiet, practical system that keeps your household steady when normal routines wobble.

It means you can feed yourself well even when circumstances aren’t ideal.
You rely less on last‑minute shopping.
You have ingredients that turn into real meals, not just snacks.

It’s essentially food security at the household level — a small buffer that absorbs life’s bumps.

The core principles:

Store simple staples you actually use.
Rice, oats, flour, pasta, lentils, beans, tinned tomatoes, the everyday workhorses.
These are cheap, long‑lasting, and form the backbone of countless meals.

Choose foods with long shelf life.
Canned goods, dried grains, pulses, powdered milk, oils.
These stay stable for months or years if kept cool and dry.
Build variety, not a mountain of one thing.
A resilient pantry is diverse enough that if one item runs short, you can still cook.
Grains + proteins + fats + flavour boosters = flexibility.

Use what you store, store what you use with the First In, First Out rotation.
It keeps everything fresh and prevents waste.
Keep morale foods such as Tea/coffee jam, cocoa, biscuits, small comforts matter during stressful weeks.

The real reason people build a resilient pantry include:

Peace of mind.
If weather is foul, you’re ill, or the car won’t start, you can still cook nourishing meals.

Budget stability.
Buying staples slowly, in normal weeks, smooths out rising food costs.

Health and consistency.
A pantry of whole, minimally processed staples supports steady eating habits.

Less decision fatigue.
When the basics are already in place, “What’s for dinner?” becomes easier.

What it looks like in practice:

A resilient pantry is simply:

A shelf of grains (rice, oats, pasta, couscous)
A few jars of pulses (lentils, beans)
Tinned tomatoes, veg, fruit, fish
Oils, vinegar, honey
Stock cubes, herbs, spices
A couple of comfort items
A habit of rotating things gently

It’s not dramatic, just quiet preparedness
😊

Any questions?

P.S. I still haven’t addressed the chocolate store 🤪 I keep cocoa and also drinking chocolate/ovaltine & horlicks! I don’t keep a chocolate stash because it calls to me from the cupboard 😂 so would never be there when I actually needed it!

And somewhere in all that lot I forgot a biggie which is peanut butter, protein, fat, comfort & versatile always worth having a tub of that in the stores.