the daydream fund challenge thread

podcake

rhiwfield wrote: »

Choille, I used to have one of those log makers that used papier mache, trouble was the logs wouldnt dry out, might be ok in an African dry season! I see that a later version is to use dry paper compressed but, tbh, that seems a waste of time, We use rolled, knotted paper in place of kindling.

I just bought one of those, I had borrowed one off an old university colleague to try it. They have their issues, but with a bit of work they make exceptional bricks..
I do admit that we have a conservatory which breaks thermometers and thats a big part of it. I should think that a few sheets of glass/polycarb in a cold-frame sort of arrangement should have similar results.
I made a good 30 of them from old university notes and have given them to my parents for the wood burner.
I had great fun with my mate's and I'm sure I'll do the same with this. bear in mind that the paper for the bricks needs shredding up quite small and soaking AT LEAST overnight. once you have done that you need to squeeze every last drop of water that you can out of the brick (I virtually stood on the maker), keep adding more and squeezing until you can't push the plunger to the bottom of it's travel. Then it needs to be somewhere warm/hot for between 2 and 6 weeks I'd say (depending how dry) . one other tip... standard 80gsm printer paper works better than newspaper (I think it has a more starchy content).

Davesnave

It was a lovely day yesterday, so we moved the remaining (43!)peppers & chilli plants into the conservatory and filled empty tomato pots with lettuce, chard and beetroot and stuck them in the polytunnel. I also sowed a couple of troughs with a salad leaves mix because everything can't be for chickens! We still have tomatoes in there, untouched by blight, but green tomato chutney looks increasingly likely.

Storing our more tender stuff is uppermost in our minds now, and with no large tunnel, we will have to put frames over the top of the old wooden pig sties again. Fortunately, within a few miles there's a polytunnel company, so we visited them last week and did a good deal on an 'end of roll' for that job. Polytunnel plastic is so useful for other jobs too, like covering the chicken house floor.

Lir, we are just about to finish our fencing with some 'almost' post and rail, the posts being machined, 1.8 m pointed with a couple of flat faces that we can just bump in, with three half round rails over sheep netting. That will make it quick. Knowing Pete, he will still add struts to the straining posts and winch it all up tight! They will look better than sheep fence for 'garden' boundaries anyway.

On the subject of solar energy, I notice in the latest Mole Valley Farmers Newsletter that members are being invited to join a new cooperative called Mole Valley Renewables, which will use its purchasing power to get the best deals on quality equipment, and in selling the electricity subsequently generated. This is so new that there is nothing on the net about it, so I guess I will have to phone and express an interest to find out more. I will let you all know how I get on....;)

Choille, I think the nuts are with the squirrels!:( We are so impressed with the bushes we have here, we're taking slips and growing more, though I'm not sure if they will be exactly like the parent bush. I say this because the more ornamental purple one we have here throws out the odd branch at the base which is green.

Weather's a bit iffy today, but the wind's gone round, so it's time to light the huge pile from hedge clearance in the field.... and then pray it doesn't swing back again, bringing half a dozen complaints! :rotfl:

choille

The nuts are with the squirrels.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I don't think we've got any just here, but the martens would probably eat them.

RAS

choille wrote: »

The nuts are with the squirrels.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I don't think we've got any just here, but the martens would probably eat them.

I have seen red squirrels in the northwest and there are sightings near Ullapool http://www.redsquirrelsofthehighlands.co.uk/sightings and http://www.redsquirrelsofthehighlands.co.uk/media/103682/redsquirrelleafletview.pdf

But yes both red and grey squirrels eat nuts. In fact, when the permaculture crew got all excited about growing walnuts near here, The Agro-forestry Trust suggested that if they wanted any nut harvest, they would need a squirrel harvest first (though this would be greys).

In both Devon and Yorkshire, I have found that the ground round almost all hazels is littered with gnawed shells and there are very few left for human scrumpers.

As an aside, did anyone pick up on the stuff on hazels in the pre-historic food book co-authored by Ray Mears? People used to char the unshelled nuts in fires and they then store really well without going rancid or drying out.

RAS

choille wrote: »

I have hazel trees ( Which I was told were an ancient woodland indicator) but this is what I don't understand - I have never seen nuts on them. I am getting them regening - so obviously they must have them but I don't understand where the nuts are!

Squirrels will cache their nuts and then forget where they are. So you may get them sprouting from a forgotten cache.

choille

Hi RAS - there are red squirrels down the road that were released, re-introduced by the squirrel folks. I have a bit about it on my blog. We found one dead. Most have collars on.

I've never seen one on the croft, but I've never seen a badger here either but I've seen badger tracks - so squirrels could be on the croft too. ( I've also had badger(s) dig up & eat a dead buried sheep - at least that's what I was told had done it - but that's another story!)

The ones that were released down the road have been found great distances away. I do think it's the pine martens that are eating the nuts - they gorge on the rowan berries & then sick them up. I'm finding piles of sicked up rowan berries.

Oddly, to get back to the hazels, they are regening like mad in the birch wood. I've got the usual rowan coming up everywhere, but it's interesting to see the hazles & also holly - which wasn't here - the holly, on the croft, so that must have been brought in by birds.

RAS

choille

Is it possible that you have reduced the grazing pressure enough for stuff to regenerate?

I went to Mar Lodge not long after they started the really massive cull of deer. Even in the second year the heather was higher and there were some three foot high pines and birch seedlings growing, in an area used for winter feeding where I would have expected anything do be eaten to the heather top every year.

In other areas where grazing has been halted or reduced, I have seen rowan and birch which used to be nibbled back to the heather top each year come away really strongly once the grazing pressure was reduced. The plants had a good root system and decent sized trunks - up to 1 cm - so when given the opportunity they really took off. Within 5 years they were person height.

I have also seen holly that was 20 years old stripped bare when deer got in and still trying to regenerate from the base 10 years later but being nibbled down each year.

choille

Decidely RAS. The deer fencing that I did when I first got the croft helped the regen.
Parts of the croft - near the gorge - the sheep don't get on & that's where most of the regenis occuring - However, not all the bottom of the croft is deer fenced & I had deer in recently & also some wild goats last year. The do do a tremendous amount of tree nibbling , barking etc as well as totally wreaking the veg patch - grrrrrrrrr.
I've spent so much on fencing that I don't know whether to get this last bit done or not. I'm so skint at the moment.
Even on the hill - where I planned the woodland, earlier on in the year, before the deer come down, all the rowan regen is amazing. Even just deer fencing allows the seedlings a start.
There seems to be a cycle on the croft - birch wood has got hazel & holly beneath it - some rowan too obviously - that is regen everywhere.
I've introduced alder down the track & that is doing well - seems to grow like billy-o.

We have snow on the tops today!

RAS

choille

I am getting a better picture of the croft now. I think you priority is funding the house, particularly getting it to the point where the envelope is weatherproof, so you can work inside.

If you happen upon some old deer fencing that is going begging, then close the bottom of the croft off. However, what you have now is obviously working to a considerable extent, so live with it for a while.

The factor you cannot deal with is the level of the deer population but if over the years there is anything you cvan do to influence that, go for it. Even if it means learning how to shoot. The hind cull is the key measure.

choille

Yes RAS - I think a gun license for OH is in order & a decent rifle - would be much cheaper. The deer never used to come in - now for some reason they are moving down to the shore - They can get down across other people's crofts that aren't deer fenced at the road & then getting up our croft from the shore. I must admit I do love venison. We were only talking with the ex gamekeeper here about getting a gun. We are entitled to shoot any deer that comes on the croft. We could certainly fill our freezers.
What about yourself RAS - what sort of set up do you have if it's not too nosy.