the daydream fund challenge thread

Rummer

We have had constant rain! Every time I try to go out in the garden the heavens open!

rhiwfield

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

oo you are either going to do a rhiwie version of vilage people Y.M.C.A or the you are having a trial run before you go on the glastonbury stage as one of the wombles:D am i warm? no? ok then..... cant wait to find out what you were trying out..

It was village people but not too many moustaches and armbands Though there was plenty of retro rock and some sealed knot guys who seemed well into leather

Rosee, glad to see its getting closer!

Davesnave

Lotus-eater wrote: »

That's the one that is from their breeding program? Sounds very interesting. What's the taste like?
I could be up for a spot of seed swapping later, if you are?

Yes, that's the one.. As I said up there somewhere, it tasted OK to me. DW said the skin might have been a bit thicker, but by then I'd eaten mine.

Considering they are at least 2 - 3 weeks ahead of Gardener's Delight, they will be worth growing, but the appearance leaves something to be desired....v straggly. I will select the best of the ones I have and send anyone who wants some, some seeds to try for next season.

Just updated my Photobucket album, but don't get excited, there's not much to report, except that I've been lazy with the camera lately.

rozeepozee

Davesnave wrote: »

Nice to hear you're really moving forward again, choille. I saw the last few pics of the build and felt a bit guilty about the way I moan on here about the weather & so on!

It's good to hear from rozee too after quite a gap. I'm sure you're doing the right thing, renting and really getting a feel for the area, before making the really big decision. I've seen a few really nice properties come to the West Wales market in recent months, but I fancy that the majority put up have quite a margin for reduction built in. One place I'm familiar with gained solar panels over the winter, and £40k on the price!

My news isn't so great. I had to dispatch our poorly hen tonight, as her improvement yesterday was only temporary. There's only so long one should let things run, and I think we'd reached that point.

Now, our medication-withdrawing hen can have her isolation coop back, instead of suffering the indignity of living in an ex-ferret run, but more importantly, she can go back inside the main enclosure, which is safer. Tonight we had a warning phone call from the village, where two foxes have been seen today in close proximity to houses with chicken runs. Hungry cubs need feeding, no doubt.

Finally, we also took action tonight, not only against the crows which raid the chook food, but also the small flock of sparrows which have learned to do the same thing. We now have black mesh curtains over the ends of the corrugated iron tunnel where we hang their food dispensers. The hens won't mind walking in through those, but I think the crows will baulk at it, and the sparrows won't be able to fly inside any more.

..............Nah, that's too easy, isn't it?

Sorry to hear about your hen Dave. Do any of you eat your animals? I know it makes me sound like a total townie but I'm not sure I could kill animals I'd raised... Obviously, if they're ill, that's different.

Things have been pretty busy to get to this position - We're in a bit of a hiatus right now. Getting things organized for the full blown move in mid July. The only thing I've grown this year is a couple of tomberry plants for my son. And they got off to a late start.

I've seen a few new houses on the market too, Dave. Looking at Property Snake there are some pretty major reductions from presumably the at least semi-motivated seller and I can't wait to start looking round properties properly. I do feel a little frustrated when there are properties on the market that haven't sold in 3 years but the seller won't reduce the price. It's tantalising for what reason...?!? We can probably stretch to the high £300s now, but every time we think we can up our budget, the properties we like are just 8 or 9% out of reach!

Anyway, roll on August!!! :jCan't come soon enough!

rozeepozee

lostinrates wrote: »

Presumaby you need moisture too, for any harm to be done.

...

I think the problem is the water is in the plant, so when it freezes & the water in the cell structure expands, there is cell damage to the plant. Frost got by tomatoes one May and the frost damaged leaves were dry and discoloured all summer but I still had the best crop I'd had because they managed to recover.

lostinrates

rozeepozee wrote: »

I think the problem is the water is in the plant, so when it freezes & the water in the cell structure expands, there is cell damage to the plant. Frost got by tomatoes one May and the frost damaged leaves were dry and discoloured all summer but I still had the best crop I'd had because they managed to recover.

That would make sense too.:o

For the record, I made the same mistake as an undergrad researcher asked to do a fecal egg count .....didn't stop to think the night before when getting back from a 16 hour observation at 2 am and dropping my samples in to the freezer to get to later in the week. D'oh. It was a four hour drive away, and getting replacement samples was a nightmare, requiring another four hours obs there.

Davesnave

rozeepozee wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your hen Dave. Do any of you eat your animals? I know it makes me sound like a total townie but I'm not sure I could kill animals I'd raised... Obviously, if they're ill, that's different.

I've seen a few new houses on the market too, Dave. Looking at Property Snake there are some pretty major reductions from presumably the at least semi-motivated seller and I can't wait to start looking round properties properly. I do feel a little frustrated when there are properties on the market that haven't sold in 3 years but the seller won't reduce the price.

No, we wouldn't eat any hen that had ben ill. All of them, being real free rangers, would be pretty tough too, I'd imagine!
Killing hens/cockerels is something one has to be prepared to do, or it all gets very expensive. This is one reason why we try not to view the hens as pets. Right now, if I could, I'd bump off a few crows too! :mad:

As fairly radical reducers ourselves, we weren't impressed with the way smallholding prices in West Wales generally failed to reflect the national market a few years ago. This was probably due to the slower nature of property sales there + a natural reluctance to admit that the gravy train hit the buffers. There's no doubt about that now, but every spring there are hopefuls! Best time to bargain is the autumn/early winter.

Do you use Property Bee? Better than Snake, but you need to be viewing through Firefox as it's an add-on to that.

Davesnave

The 'curtains' on the feeder ark seem to be working against the crows, but not the sparrows, which just sit on the fence, take careful aim, and then dive down straight through the gap! Any suggestions?

The crows have given us more problems lately than just stealing hen food. For a month now, they've raided the dustbin bags put out on the lane which serves 15 properties, creating a huge mess. This is right by our front entrance. Last week the mess persisted from Sunday till Wednesday, because those of us who pick it up got fed up. The residents probably don't want wheelie bins because (a) they like to drive their rubbish the 150m up the lane and (b) they'd have to pay for them.

Anyway, with local councillors chasing this, the management of the barn complex have to act, so they want to place some kind of large bins up here permanently. This could be bad news, knowing how present rules are abused. We want to run a small business here that doesn't feature smelly bins as the focal point of the entrance! We're therefore looking to work with them to solve the problem, and having a meeting to see if we can assist. I'll let you know how it goes......;)

Lotus-eater

The only way I think you can stop wild birds eating the food, is get one of those feed on demand feeders.

lostinrates

well, a day of rain and the veg bed is almost damp all the way through. Addicted to poking it with a fork these days. ground is still hard. I need a week of this please!