the daydream fund challenge thread

CountryCottage

Hi again,

I currently have a 2 bed EOT with a 75ft garden, 2 sheds and a 2 year old conservatory. We (me, husband, 4 yr old son) managed to grow quite a lot of veg. Also have raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, apple and pear trees (small espalliers).

But I dream of a much bigger garder, say 1/3 acre and a slightly bigger house...would probably need 400K around here. At the moment I could scrape together 350K (would have a mortgage of 150K)...so near but not quite enough....I'm 38 1/2 and was hoping to achieve my dream by 40

Rummer

Welcome countrycottage sounds as if you are well on your way to achieving your dream!

Davesnave

Hello countrycottage. Blooming expensive part of the country you live in.....much the same as where I used to be.... and here's not much better either!

Well, I managed to empty the van at the dump yesterday. The supervisor guy wasn't 100% happy, but I assured him there would be no more of this rubbish....and there won't, till we do the remainder of our heaps!:p

Down the road a little way, there's a big barn complex where they have workshops, storage facilities etc, and they just burn anything and everything, rather than bother to take it to a tip. We're more responsible than that, but still made to feel guilty.:(

Back at the ranch here, as the wind was right for the first convenient time in ages, we next had a bonfire with all the prunings, weeds etc and the wood from the heap which was unsuitable for the log burner, so that was another 10 big building materials bags of stuff gone in an hour flat, because it was all dried-out. Had to cart it across the field though, as our neighbours are thatchers, and the wind from our usual site was heading straight into their open storage barn!

Weather still looks set fair here for the next four or five days, but there are still a few chilly nights coming up. Not time to switch the Aga off yet, perhaps.

Lovely to be clear of waste materials again.:)

Rummer

Oh Dave I would love to have an aga !

Rummer

This evening I managed to get a lot of my planting done feeling so relieved as I felt really far behind but I got lots done. I also took out a wee heap of gardening books so that I can get a bit more knowledge. One of my friends used to keep chickens so I am having a chat with her tomorrow to get some hints and tips

sammy_kaye18

Hi everyone,

was wondering if i'd be able to join this thread. Its mine and my boyfriends dream to live the good life with our own home and little plot of land with a few animals running around. He's even been looking at plots of land that we could buy to build our own home on.

Although at the minute he seems to want a mini farm type scenario and rescuing animals to keep there. Have told him though as long as I get my country kitchen and a veggie patch then Im happy. However we are a long way off from that and I'd like to start a day dreaming fund to make a start towards getting our dream home. We have a while yet to think about it as boyfriend is 30 and im 25 but we are looking to have our dream by the time I'm 35 / 40 so hoping if I can make a dedicated start now then one day we might have our dream!

Sadly there is no available space here for me to practice growing on and our small communal garden is useless as its shaded all day and being communal next doors kids tend to wreck anything i attempt to plant out. Fingers crossed we should move to a house soon though and then I can get a veggie patch of some sort started.

Lotus-eater

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Sadly there is no available space here for me to practice growing on and our small communal garden is useless as its shaded all day and being communal next doors kids tend to wreck anything i attempt to plant out. Fingers crossed we should move to a house soon though and then I can get a veggie patch of some sort started.

Why don't you start growing some bits on the inside windowsill? There are some good web sites about it around, you don't need to do much, just something to make you feel better and start to learn to germinate seeds and to grow on.

See if you can find a spot in a friends or relatives garden they won't mind if you use, even a tiny bit will give you invaluable experience.

Winged_one

I am another lurker with a dream here too. We live in city centre and have a pocket hankerchief garden. But we do have an allotment (well, I do, OH occasionally consents to help and always helps to eat the produce!) which I try to get lots from, including freezable and otherwise storable veg for winter. (I haven't had to buy onions since we about June 07 because of it).

But we are both country folk, and have a long term dream of earning enough to pack in the city jobs and move to country again, with a LARGE veg plot, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, sheep, perhaps a cow, and a site that has space for fruit trees, tree for firewood, a stream (for water and energy) and lots of sunshine power too. And either an old house we can renovate to very good eco standards or space to build our own eco house.

I have a little pot of savings, but I think I need to kick my takeaway coffee habit (and a few other "city" habits) to build it up properly. Then again, at least I put the cups to good use every spring as they are great for long rooted plants like beans and sweetcorn!!

Rummer

Hello Sammy nice to meet you on another thread! Welcome too to Winged one!

Good advice as always from Lotus Eater, any room that has a reasonable sunny window ledge can be used for growing salad and herbs and if you have a sunny room with space for a decent sized pot you could try growing tomatoes or courgettes as we have grown both successfully inside the house. Think of the things you eat most often and then check and see if you could squeeze them indoors, it is worth it even for some basil and salad.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Hi to all the newbies to the thread.....

its a beautifull day today... and this is when my head gets carried away with those smallholding dreams:rotfl:

no signs of my carrots - beetroots- turnips and parsnips growing:( i think they might have been frosted out my the cold snap we had 2 weeks ago..

my chicks and newly hatched ducks are doing well, sadly we did lose one chick.....

looking on ebay today for some new cochin eggs, as i want to concentrate on this breed along with my bluebells, so need a new colour... after some of my foundation stock being pinched last year....i am a little bit reluctant to pay high prices for things now....

hope you are all busy in the gardens


catcha all laters