I bought some seeds yesterday.  Wa went to the grocery store today. To , they were out of a lot, fresh spinach,  lettuce,  bananas,  potatoes. 

I'm mulling over the idea of building a hobbit hole. We have a suitable hill that we can build into and it would be almost invisible once built. I've been to Hobbiton and really like the idea of a tiny underground house.

Bag End wasn't so small!   I'd say go for it.     

I would like to build a buried root cellar away from the house, but the granite rock comes too close to the surface in the garden (at least 1/3 rd of the space is exposed rock)

EdwinSm, wrote: Bag End wasn't so small!   I'd say go for it.      I would like to build a buried root cellar away from the house, but the granite rock comes too close to the surface in the garden (at least 1/3 rd of the space is exposed rock)

The book "Root Cellaring" by Mike and Nancy Bubel is excellent and has lots of plans for half submerged root cellars. We live on a pure clay subsoil and so drainage is a real issue if digging holes. We recently put in a new waste water management area that we can walk down into and tend to and we had to dig it much deeper than required and build up a drainage layer of rock and gravel and a drainage channel through the side of the hill into a waterway to allow for rainwater to drain away. It was quite an undertaking but it works beautifully even in torrential rain. I'd really recommend that book though. It has a root cellar for everyone, even people with no garden.

Thanks for the tip on the book.  

In the end I might go with taking out an old oil tank which is at the end of the garage. As the house is built into a sloping hill the area is almost totally underground.  This will not be the best root cellar, but it is where they planned one according to the original plans of the house (which were modified a bit while the place was being built).

Yes, Thanks - I just got one from ebay for £5.86.  

We also are on a hillside, so may hire excavator again.  If finances exer permit, a hobbit hole (aircrete) is going up too.

May be just a strange coincidence, but several stores I’ve went too have been out of corn startch or had 1-2 more containers of expensive name brands.  Finally had to concede to purchasing the name brand as I have tried 3 different stores over the past week before locating any. 

The great toilet paper famine  (I can't really call it a drought - it only holds water after use)  was unpredicted by any of us - The clearest crystal balls may have spotted covid, but not that. Cornstarch may be the next famine. Who knows? Not I.

There is only two places I get my nutrition shake from at a relatively decent price, and they have been buying that out like crazy, but since I have severe GP, I am going to ask my dietician to switch my nutrition shake to something I can get by prescription so that I am not without for those days I can't really tolerate solid food.

Isn't cornstarch a thickener, Hoosiermom? Maybe that's what they are using it for and hopefully not just playing around with oobleck. I'm not into TikTok so no idea if that is a trend. It's also an egg substitute, milk bath (good for photography purposes), natural dry shampoo, etc. I've seen some pretty empty shelves at Whole Foods when I do go lately. 

I bought a few cases of Gatorade for my POTS - took weeks for that to come back to Costco and will probably disappear again soon enough.

I have gone back to 100% getting delivery from Walmart of things I need. It works well for me, but the limits on some things baffle me. I can only get one container of ammonia (I use it in my wash) when I order...now if I want LEMON ammonia - I can get 3 containers of it at a time. So, each time I order 1 reg. ammonia and 3 lemon.
If I go to the store myself to buy it- there are no limits at all and plenty on the shelves.

I think people may just be doing over all stocking up so they can save money. We pretty much know there are higher prices coming with Biden signing to stop the XL pipeline. Which I'm ok with, I don't mind paying higher prices for gas if it means having a cleaner environment. But everyone knows it will have a trickle down effect to everything else. So I think people are just buying what they can.