THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Witless wrote: »

Would that not increase the risk?

Posting at speed whilst eating brekkie; my thought was that the blight might have come in from the non-prevailing wind direction in that instance, thus making me less vulnerable in that incidence, sorry for not making that clear - I know what I mean, everyone else should, yes?! :rotfl:

On further reflection, considering the placing of our plots and the compass points vs the usual approach of blight (from the south-west, I think) I would be in harm's way before this other plot-holder.

So, I guess I just got lucky and my 7.5 kg of seed spuds turned into 130 kg + of harvest. My old Dad last saw a harvest like that in 1966.:p

I had a blightwatch e mail and quickly put two of my bucket-grown tomato plants into my wall greenhouse. I can only get two in with some space in between. Lol, part of my prepping is to grow less, I used to have 19 tomatoes in patio buckets, with the tomato rings, now only three. I am itching to get on the lottie today, this afternoon as washing is on. Went up yesterday late as it rained for 24 hours and pesky slugsand snails are at it, two celeriacs are eaten. I used nematodes earlier and my cabbages look a lot better than my neighbours but it only kills small slugs and not those horrible big ones, or any snails. I am going to do hands and knees weeding later, no point hoeing here as more rain is forecast this week and the soil is now so moist that weeds are just growing more roots as soon as the hoe cuts them. However I like the quietness of hands and knees weeding, I easily tackle one bed at a time so its not too daunting

I have a hm wooden planter in the front and it is relatively difficult. I think I will get rid and order another big plastic one, to match one I bought last week. Its very nice and big enough for a small tree but I`ll be putting a drought mix in, lavender, pinks, semperviviums. The big troughs in the back have them and they are already stunning. It will mean minimal future care, I`ll just start collecting plastic shapes as I half fill with them first, then top with weed fabric, then put a soil mix in

Daz- I'm so sorry I missed your post. Glad the funeral was argument free, it's a stressful time for you. X

Good morning.

Very interesting about your decision, kittie, and I hope that your hunch is the correct one. These things are hard to judge but sometimes all you can do is observe the omens and act with instinct. By the time the answer is out there, it'll be a fire sale and too late to get a good price.

I do feel that we're in the last stages of the bubble-of-all-bubbles in terms of the ridiculous valuations given to companies which have never, ever, come within a country mile of turning a profit and probably never will do so. The eventual reversal is likely to be something people will tell their grandchildren about with shock and awe.:(

Plus, the prices of most assets are inflated beyond all reason. I think it will end badly and that an awful lot of people will get hurt as a lot of notational wealth will evaporate like dew on a summer's morning. I have a copy of Galbraith's The Great Crash 1929 sitting on the shelf in front of me, must get around to reading that soon.

Well, I was just saying to my Dad yestereve that I may or may not get up to the allotment today at some point, it has been raining for about 14 hours now, very gently at present. I haven't seen very many slugs at all since my slug-a-geddon in 2013 but my plot was rife with those monsters the size of your thumb, I killed them by the hundred each day I was up there. I cultivate the soil by hand and usually have a robin accomplice snatching up any grubs and (hopefully) slug and snail eggs as I turn them up.

I don't like to walk on my soil when it's very wet as I aim to keep it as fluffy as possible. A fellow plot-holder, who is from a farming family in another part of the county, was marvelling over the soil on our site, it has properties he has never encountered before. I did explain about it being a riverbed in ancient times, and that the silty elements cause both crusting in dry weather and slickness in wet, so the surface needs regular gentle tickling with a hoe or similar to break up the shell which forms.

If you don't, water will bead and roll off any raised bits, quite remarkable to observe. Still, the waterbutts on the shed were getting low and will now both be brimming over, which is a happy sight.

Interesting about the Sarpo spuds. I have long been fearful of the consequences for an uncontainable potato blight as this one plant is such a staple part of our diets. The Sarpos were the great white hopes, weren't they, but their palatability and cooking qualities have put a lot of people off.

Hokay, onwards and upwards, mes amies. Have a good day.