the daydream fund challenge thread

COOLTRIKERCHICK

mambury wrote: »

check out the refferers (SP??) thread, Ing Direct are offering £25 for just opening a savings account and putting £1 in! Free money!

Thats my garden fund home!

i seen that one, but i havent got a personal cheque book to send them a cheque... so i might try opening another account but use my business account details:D

good going Manbury you are on the mse wave length in trying to get extra money by using loopholes and companies offers and you gain rather than the big companies...lol...:money:

i dont think it will be long before you have your dream greenhouse, will be able to get some lovely greenhouse staging too

mambury

thanks CTC!!

Well, guess what! I have had a quick monthly look through the bills as usual, but it seems that I have been overpaying BT!! A nice refund of £227.63 winging its way to me! :j:j:j

So thats £50 plus £227.63 for a greenhouse! Don't tell OH, or he will want to spend the money on himself!

Right, so the next thing is to get a few more pennies as I need to save for the base. I have a bed full of kids clothes as we speak getting ready to ebay them.

I've had to give up my p/t job as my SIL who was looking after my DD one day a week can't anymore as she has got a job (her OH has been made redundant so they need to money more than I do at the moment) and I can't afford the childcare so thats more time on my hands playing in the garden.............

And............

the BBC weather people reckon its going to be a good summer, hotter thatn average and drier than average so probably good growing if I can get my veg plot sorted in time!!!!

CTC - I'm curious about your job (hope you don't mind me being nosey!!) If I understand it right you are a Rag Lady in the old sense of the term??!! Do you ever get rolls/off cuts of fabric?? Do you have a website? The reason I am asking is that we are about to embark on an extension and I have the task of decorating and furnishing:eek:. We are on a very tight budget so a lot of the furniture will be 2nd hand and I plan to make the curtains, re cover chairs etc myself and I am looking to reuse fabric as well as buy some new and the fabric shops here are pretty good but not very cheap. So I guess, what I'm saying is..........do you sell fabric and if so would you sell small scale???

Mrs M - I read a while back on this thread that you got your own slips off sweet pots, Can I be cheeky and ask how you did this?????


I think I've rambled on for long enough so I'm off!

:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

Hi Mambury
I have copied over the instructions I stuck on my blog -hope it makes sense..there are a few pictures on the blog that might help it make sense...(the link is in my profile )
I have looked up and I saw sweet potato slips at 6 for £11 :eek: think Im going to grow lots of slips to give away when I move back to the uk -I had to stop the 1 sweet potato from throwing anymore slips off as I had nowhere else to grow them :rotfl:

So -here is what you need to do:-

• Scrub the sweet potato with a nailbrush -they are sprayed to stop them from sprutting (so i have read)
• get a shallow tray with holes in the bottom-I'm using a grape tub
• half fill with compost with a little gravel mixed in
• nestle the sweetpotato in the compost mix -so its half burried
• stand in a shallow tray with a litle water in the bottom
• then they like quite a bit of heat -so luckily I have radiators that are about 2" wide and flat on top -so I sit mine on there with the radiator on low. I would think that a warm window sill should be fine, they may just take a little longer to get going
• I just keep checking on them daily and adding a drop more water to the bottom -or misting the top of the compost
• You will find that after a while you will get lots of fine roots on the bottom and then tiny pink buds should start to appear
• eventually they will grow quite tall and sprout leaves
• when they are about 2" tall you simply twist them off -they leave a hole like you have used a potato peeler to take an eye out
• you then set them into your pot/tub -the bottom leaves may wilt -but it doesn't matter... roots will eventually grow out of ther bottom and away you go

I grew mine in a crate last year -they didn't swell very well (they went without water for 3 weeks when I had to go home)...but there were loads of them -so fingers crossed for this year.
Im going to try them in a dustbin this year so they can go deeper -be warned they are invasive so if you set them in the ground -you may get more than you bargained for..
they need 150 days of warmth... so Im going to make a giant plastic shower cap for the dustbin to help keep the warmth in on colder days, and I will put them in the corner that catches the sun !
I'm also starting them now -then when I have the slips Im going to set them in small tubs indoors to get them going before moving them outdoors -Im Hoping it will give them a head start.
Sorry for the waffle.... I will add pics and go through each stage as I come to it ...hopefully it will make more sense then ....

Give me a yell if you need anything clearing up
I have 2 dustbins with 14 slips in now -so pinkies crossed for lots of warmth ... I had to uncover them the other day as it was so hot the leaves were wilting -so we MAY get enough warmth:D

Its warm but overcast here -but the veggies are loving it..the 1 test cucumber I have planted out is doing fine -so the rest should be able to go out at the weekend :T
I have been out and set some yellow dwarf beans today -so that will be 25 of those and 25 teepee cropper bush beans and 20 of another bush green bean :j

COOLTRIKERCHICK

CTC - I'm curious about your job (hope you don't mind me being nosey!!) If I understand it right you are a Rag Lady in the old sense of the term??!! Do you ever get rolls/off cuts of fabric?? Do you have a website? The reason I am asking is that we are about to embark on an extension and I have the task of decorating and furnishing:eek:. We are on a very tight budget so a lot of the furniture will be 2nd hand and I plan to make the curtains, re cover chairs etc myself and I am looking to reuse fabric as well as buy some new and the fabric shops here are pretty good but not very cheap. So I guess, what I'm saying is..........do you sell fabric and if so would you sell small scale???


:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T[/QUOTE]

lol.... yes i am a 'rag lady' but in all honesty i dont get rolls of fabric, i get curtains clothes etc, and maybe smaller amounts of fabric in which in most cases is either naff or vintage:D which is my love...so i tend to keep these bits....for my secret stash:p

is there a market or something with cheap fabric? i am sure there might be some on ebay, i will take a nose and see if there is any good sellers for you

i am sooooooooooo glad its the weekend, finished work early today, and its piddling down, so cant do anything in the garden:o, so i think i am going to have a bit of a crafty night to un-wind, maybe make some cards or play around with the sewing machine...lol...

Davesnave

I had a look at another property today in South West England. It falls well within our budget, but it would need to, as the house needs some serious work, though the basics are OK and it could be splendid.

The land/outside was good, with excellent soil and one big, new, adaptable outbuilding. (There were others, but they were only fit for firewood!) The only disappointments were the lack of free water and few mature trees, but a bore hole would be possible, and I can plant trees. There's nothing like a good shelter belt.

As usual, there's a catch. This one is agriculturally tied, so I'm not sure of our position yet. We qualify to buy it, but I'm just not certain I should take this on at my time of life: not if we're also expected to make a financial go of it. There would be a couple of years' work to restore what's left of the market garden there, but the business clearly wasn't viable before, probably because it's a bit remote, so I'll have to think long and hard with DW about what we'd be letting ourselves in for. (She's not seen it yet.) I'll also need a word or two with he planners at the local council.

Hmmm. Lots to consider, suddenly!

Oh, and CTC, because it's not Wales I'm marking it down a bit!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

davesnave, you dont really know why it didnt take off with the previous owners, maybe they were naff gardeners, but you do have the upper hand as you go to out to sell your stock, so you wouldnt have to soley rely on people coming to you.

me personally i would live in a caravan, or as long as the roof wasnt leaking ( well in parts) and it had a fire/place, and some sort of running water, then i would be fine....( dont know about hte other members of hte family:rotfl:)

is the work cosmetic or structual? what needs doing?

dont ofrget you can pick up static carvans quite cheaply:D

went to the farm auction today, arrived late so i plonked the things down, and hte auctioner listed them as he sold them..lol..

they are now paying sellers in the next auction, and as i didnt write down what i took to the auction i dont know how much i sold....typical of me. they are now charging lot entries, varying from 25p - 50p depending on what part of the sale it is.

but i did sell £10 worth of army clothing to the auctioner:D so i can add that to my total.

i did buy some ducklings, i did want to uby some cochin chickens, but they went way over what i wanted( afford) to pay. They also had some georgous lavender frizzel pekins too, Never mind when i get my smallholding i want to specialise in certain breeds..

this bank holiday weekend i really do need to get my butt into gear with the garden... thengs are just going over the top now in the greenhouse, and need to be planted out or something before i go losing them...

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

The glorious sun has been back today :T

This last couple of days I have set sweetcorn and yellow/green bush beans..salad leaves and more pack choi

Making an appearance are :-
peas, beetroot, raddish, scorzonera

And more tomatoes have been planted out -shielded with fleece
then today the squash and melons have gone out -they are in crates/tubs up against the house so the arches are sheltered and the walls are cream so the attract the sun and hold warmth oh and I have added fleece "just in case"

My loose change tin has gained 71g this week -but I have also stashed some more in the cash box so we are now up to €3405 plus the change tin :j
hope everyone is making the most of the lovely weekend

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Hi MRSM it looks as though its going to be a sunny day here, but it is a bit windy,

i really do need to get stuff sorted in the greenhouse and in the garden, otherwise before i know it will be too late to plant things etc, and i will have no veg...lol..

the main thing the chickens and ducks are now settled in their new home and run, and my little silkies are in the little chicken shed/run around the back garden.

i am def ordering an incubator TODAY!!!!, and i think hubby can start making a brooder for me too,

in the farm auction yesturday there were these chickens, and i just soooooooooo fell in love with them, so lovely
and they went for £26 each:eek:

so i am going to take a gamble and bid on some eggs on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=160332269445

so hopefully the incubator and the eggs should arrive around the same time

catch you all later as i really do need to do a load of transplanting today and seed sowing...:rolleyes:

mambury

Davesnave wrote: »

I had a look at another property today in South West England. It falls well within our budget, but it would need to, as the house needs some serious work, though the basics are OK and it could be splendid.

The land/outside was good, with excellent soil and one big, new, adaptable outbuilding. (There were others, but they were only fit for firewood!) The only disappointments were the lack of free water and few mature trees, but a bore hole would be possible, and I can plant trees. There's nothing like a good shelter belt.

As usual, there's a catch. This one is agriculturally tied, so I'm not sure of our position yet. We qualify to buy it, but I'm just not certain I should take this on at my time of life: not if we're also expected to make a financial go of it. There would be a couple of years' work to restore what's left of the market garden there, but the business clearly wasn't viable before, probably because it's a bit remote, so I'll have to think long and hard with DW about what we'd be letting ourselves in for. (She's not seen it yet.) I'll also need a word or two with he planners at the local council.

Hmmm. Lots to consider, suddenly!

Oh, and CTC, because it's not Wales I'm marking it down a bit!

I know a few properties round here have successfully had the agri tie removed from the property. It might be worth investigating if this is possible for you, might just take the pressure off.

mambury

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Afternoon all

Hi Mambury
I have copied over the instructions I stuck on my blog -hope it makes sense..there are a few pictures on the blog that might help it make sense...(the link is in my profile )
I have looked up and I saw sweet potato slips at 6 for £11 :eek: think Im going to grow lots of slips to give away when I move back to the uk -I had to stop the 1 sweet potato from throwing anymore slips off as I had nowhere else to grow them :rotfl:

So -here is what you need to do:-

• Scrub the sweet potato with a nailbrush -they are sprayed to stop them from sprutting (so i have read)
• get a shallow tray with holes in the bottom-I'm using a grape tub
• half fill with compost with a little gravel mixed in
• nestle the sweetpotato in the compost mix -so its half burried
• stand in a shallow tray with a litle water in the bottom
• then they like quite a bit of heat -so luckily I have radiators that are about 2" wide and flat on top -so I sit mine on there with the radiator on low. I would think that a warm window sill should be fine, they may just take a little longer to get going
• I just keep checking on them daily and adding a drop more water to the bottom -or misting the top of the compost
• You will find that after a while you will get lots of fine roots on the bottom and then tiny pink buds should start to appear
• eventually they will grow quite tall and sprout leaves
• when they are about 2" tall you simply twist them off -they leave a hole like you have used a potato peeler to take an eye out
• you then set them into your pot/tub -the bottom leaves may wilt -but it doesn't matter... roots will eventually grow out of ther bottom and away you go

I grew mine in a crate last year -they didn't swell very well (they went without water for 3 weeks when I had to go home)...but there were loads of them -so fingers crossed for this year.
Im going to try them in a dustbin this year so they can go deeper -be warned they are invasive so if you set them in the ground -you may get more than you bargained for..
they need 150 days of warmth... so Im going to make a giant plastic shower cap for the dustbin to help keep the warmth in on colder days, and I will put them in the corner that catches the sun !
I'm also starting them now -then when I have the slips Im going to set them in small tubs indoors to get them going before moving them outdoors -Im Hoping it will give them a head start.
Sorry for the waffle.... I will add pics and go through each stage as I come to it ...hopefully it will make more sense then ....

Give me a yell if you need anything clearing up
I have 2 dustbins with 14 slips in now -so pinkies crossed for lots of warmth ... I had to uncover them the other day as it was so hot the leaves were wilting -so we MAY get enough warmth:D

Its warm but overcast here -but the veggies are loving it..the 1 test cucumber I have planted out is doing fine -so the rest should be able to go out at the weekend :T
I have been out and set some yellow dwarf beans today -so that will be 25 of those and 25 teepee cropper bush beans and 20 of another bush green bean :j

THanks Mrs M. I have a couple lurking in the fridge as we speak so off to give it a go this week!

I LOVE sweet potato :j:j:j