the daydream fund challenge thread

Davesnave

Thought I'd just give this thread a bump.......

Well, I was hoping to tell you that we'd exchanged contracts on the smallholding today, but it's long past solicitor knock-off time and the 'phone hasn't rung.........:mad:

Still, never mind, we bought a better van today to replace our old faithful Transit, which is on its last legs and in no state to do ten removal journeys up & down the M5. It's ex-utility company, so it comes with a generator, flashing lights and spotlamps for all that lovely night time winter work in the pouring rain!:rotfl:

Hope all your veg is responding to the natural watering we are having. We now have courgettes, grown in old compost in some tree pots I had knocking around. If we are quick, we might be able to take them with us, but I bet they'll be half way across the nursery by the time we get to moving the plants.

zarazara

my daydream will start in Sept when I go to college. I'm nearly 50 and find myself with no savings and having real difficulty making ends meet, despite DH working full time as a lorry driver. After 2 years at college I hope to get a job and have some money to soend and save. We only have the state pension to look forward to and I can envisage a miserable old age .

Davesnave

ginnyknit wrote: »

My fund has a little in it, am hoping it will grow more when daughter and partner move out - Feb. Now hubby is disabled all future plans are on hold, as much as I long to move somewhere quiet ( off council estate) it will take a while. However still keeping the dream. Like me you are all fighting real life - redundancies, family illness etc, and fighting on. Got some vouchers off here and found a few threads for cheap stuff to help the cause. this site has been a godsend if nothing else it renews my enthusiasm everyday - and its free!!

Oh, hi ginny. We posted almost at the same time. I thought I was here all on my ownsome!

You are right about this site and keeping dreams alive. DW and I may be doing OK now, but we first tried to make our smallholding 'escape' back in 2002. It didn't work out, and then life got in the way, but we never gave up, though I'm sure some of our friends thought it was just a fantasy.

People must have the idea first, then keep it alive for it to become a reality. Can your DH still do some gardening? My DW used to be unable to do quite a lot tasks, like digging, but with management of her particular problems, she's returned to activities that once seemed impossible. Blooming physio bills are still common events though!:rolleyes:

Rummer

Hello Everyone

Sorry to hear about the delay Davesnave, these things always seem to take so long! We have been enjoying a lot of food from the garden over the last few weeks which has been great. Sadly our finances are taking their time but every penny counts.
On the gardening front how big do home grown cauliflowers get? I have never grown them before and was delighted to see that the eating part was about fist size but I don't know how large they should be before I pick them?

meanmarie

Rummer...size often depends on variety. If you have lots and will not be able to freeze any I would pick the odd one from now on, they are lovely when small and then the others will have a chance to develop more. If you will be freezing/preserving some of your caulis probably best to wait a bit to get the maximum size...if you bend the green leaves over the curd it will help to keep it white.

I never have cauliflower as OH refuses to eat it so not worth growing but might try a few next year....just for me!

Good luck

Marie

Rummer

They are about the size of a small fist but some seem to be going a bit brown and one is even a bit purple??? Will they still be ok to eat? Do I just cover the other ones now? I do have freezer room and was hoping to live off my caulies and cabbage over the winter.

ginnyknit

Hiya Davesnave, DH can't do much physical work which hurts his ego,( ex builder and sportsman) but couldnt do all this without his support and unending confidence in me. We are in the middle of a terrible council estate but just pull up the drawbridge and imagine we are in the county. The dream lives on because it has to! So we are living 'the Good Life" in the city.
We decided to do life how it suits us and as he only sleeps a couple of hours a day and Im a total insomniac anyway we stay up now, we plan everyday and save every penny we can. And we are enjoying the little triumphs, homegrown soup lol and the best thing we discovered - this site and all the supportive people on it!

Jungle_Jane_2

I'm new to this forum and thought I would drop in and say this a lovely thread.

I have been a keen gardener since I was a child and used to look after my parents garden for them (and also was a self employed gardener for a few years too) until I left to move in with my boyfriend's flat in 2006.

I was hoping to have a few window boxes on the juliet balcony hanging outside of this flat and grow a few flowers in the summer. I quickly found out that my boxes were in the shade most of the day and everything died and found it very frustrating.

Since then I have been longing for a garden of my own to plod around in. My boyfriend wants to make this happen too and we have been saving for a house since early 2008. I decided to have a seperate savings account for the garden and aimed for £1000 to get most of the bits such as a secondhand greenhouse, shed, water feature (garden tools have been left to me from my boyfriend's grandad after he died April last year).

So far my fund is almost there, I now only need £8.44 before I can reach my target of £1000. I did this buy selling a hell of a lot of junk on ebay and collecting pennies (even picking them off the streets). My partner has been saved up almost £30,000 for a deposit on the house itself. (I do think most of this will be swallowed up by the negative equity made by our flat however )

Rummer

Welcome Jungle Jayne, glad to hear that you are close to your dream! Remember to look on Freecycle for bargain gardening items and gumtree often has sheds and greenhouses going for free. There are loads of ways to save money in the garden. The people on here are so inspirational and friendly it is great place to come for advice!

bonsibabe

Welcome Jane, everyone here is really friendly and helpful and you'll get loads of tips and advice!

I am just off to a certain garden place with a b and a q in the name to get some perspex to replace the windows in the kids new summerhouse then back to sort it and paint it. hubby off to his mams on wednesday so got loads to do before then.

I have actually managed to update my blog as well!!! will wonders never cease lol.

back later, have a good day all xxx