Just when I was wondering if I should reduce some of my stock levels, as things are starting to get back more towards normal I read this  

UN: Cost of food rises at fastest pace in over a decade

The UN uses a broad index of global food costs, which have also climbed for 12 months in a row.   Suppliers have been affected by disruptions to production, labour and transport during the pandemic. Concerns are growing about broader inflation and how higher grocery bills will impact the world's economic recovery. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index tracks prices around the world of a range of food including cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar. On an annual basis food prices were up 39.7% in May - the biggest month-on-month gain since October 2010 - http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/ - according to the index . All five components of the index rose, led by the surging cost of vegetable oils, grain and sugar.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57353624 - https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57353624

It looks like there will be good economic reasons to make sure our pantries are full.

It is the rhubarb season were I am, so this past week has seen 'rhubarb and ginger' made.  This, if I use it every other day on my porridge (oatmeal) should almost last until the next season.   Next on the list for tomorrow, will be 'rhubarb conserve' (which will last a year or more  I still have some of last year's batch to go).

Then I will need to wait until the end of the month for the strawberries to start coming in, for strawberry preserve. I might need to make four batches this year as the three I made last year did not last the year!  

Edwin I do a great rhubarb fool without cane sugar. I stew the rhubarb until soft in as little water as possible. And once cold, I mash up some very ripe bananas and fold this in and then fold in whipped cream (for those who eat dairy) or very thick chilled coconut cream (for those who don't). It's really good. I generally will use 3 or 4 small bananas for a portion that will serve 4 people.

We needed a windbreak to protect our polytunnels and greenhouses.  NE Scotland gets major gales.   

We are half way through planting a hedge of the dreaded leyland cyprus.  The intense shade and water hogging should also keep the track up to our top fields easy to access.  

They smell nice as well.

So we've just had the shortest day of the year here in NZ and weeks of solid rain so now I'm looking forward to Spring coming round again. My personal concern for the coming year is with the global supply chain and also with inflation affecting food prices, so, with this in mind, we've been busy drawing up plans to increase our own food production. 

I've invested is some pure bred chickens and a new incubator for meat chicken production, aiming to produce 60 meat birds a year. I'm also determined to improve our vege garden. Each year I start out with good intentions and then get overwhelmed by the weeds. I grow more food over winter than I do over summer because of the weeds, so I'm going to make more of an effort this season. To that end, I'm watching endless YouTube videos of vegetable gardening. My trouble is that there are not enough hours in the day!!!