the daydream fund challenge thread

Davesnave

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

There's some info here and here on the Real Seeds website.

I think you can use the leaves too for greens... Will give them a try when we go back from hols and let you know. Tried the chard the other day, and have to say I'm not that keen on it. But mixed in with some other stuff it'll be OK I expect. Tasted a bit school cabbagey to me. :eek: :rotfl:

Thanks. :A I've no intention of collecting seeds & processing, so I must have read somewhere about using the leaves as greens.

The good thing is, if we don't like 'em, the chickens will.

The chickens particularly like chard, but so do we, so they get them when they bolt, or if we fail to keep up. We almost invariably chop the young chard leaves and add them to stir fry. I think we currently have about 100 chard in the ground! :eek:

lostinrates

maggie chard is strong. IMO its best as a side to things with a slightly comforting sweet taste, meaty stews, chicken stew especially. I also like it with saucy fish things.... I would personally only ever grow rainbow chard. Its too beautiful to ignore.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Hi All

Alfie... thank you:T i recieved the envelope today...you are a sweet heart..

Went to Haye on wye yesturday, and set up our pitch in the shop, while we were there setting up we sold 4 things:rotfl:I really am falling in love with Hay... flip if i had the money i would def move there.

took the afternoon off work today ( working all over the weekend caught up on me) so went shopping in Asda.... i was really annoyed... I thought i would try and buy british fresh produce... especially as there should be loads of things now ready, and there was hardly any fresh british produce on the shelves:mad: all from flipping Holland, spain, turkey and africa...

I just wish that we lived in a place that had a 'proper' market day.. with cheap, or local produce that isnt over priced, because they have decided to call the market a 'farmer's market.

I heard on the continent a true farmer's market is where all the proper farmers take their fruit and veg to the weekly market, instead of selling it to the supermarkets, and it is cheap and cheerfull, and this is how the locals shop, no supermarkets, just little corner shops selling basics etc...

Flip i am getting grumpy as i get older..... the older i am getting the more things i hate:rotfl::D

Rummer

I agree with you CTC, I would love to buy local fruit, veg and meat. However our local farmers market is often overpriced and does not occur often enough for it to be anything other than an occasional treat.

Davesnave

Errrr.....speaking as a former member of the very first Farmers' Market in the country(:o).....I have to say I agree that the goods there are often (but not always) expensive!

I remember one of our number did relatively cheap (non-organic) fruit & veg. The others suspected him of buying-in.:cool: DW was one of the hit squad who visited his farm, but they found nothing amiss.

But it's hard not to buy in. How many producers can possibly cover the full range of fruit & veg all year round? You need to be big to do that. Too many regs and rules with some farmers' markets. Perhaps they've relaxed a bit now, but they were paranoid in those days.

Davesnave

The supermarkets and chains have carved the heart out of our once favourite shopping town here, so many of the butchers, fish shops etc have now gone. There are a few older folk who still come in to sell their produce in the Pannier Market, but when they go, they won't be replaced. I remember visiting Cardigan back in 1986 and more recently; the same has happened there too.

I think I've said, we'd have looked at anything affordable in or around Hay, but 'affordable' and Hay don't really go together! :rotfl:'Tis too English. There's a little valley leading down into the town called Cusop Dingle, full of nice houses with large grounds. The stream there is the boundary between England & Wales, if I remember correctly.

rhiwfield

Interesting that some of the car boot sales locally seem to be produce market linked. Bessemer road car boot in Cardiff on saturday is held after the morning fruit and veg market, with some wholesalers staying open for the public, Splott has fruit and veg, fish and meat, cakes, eggs and Sully likewise has fresh produce stalls. Individuals bring local produce to the car boots and seem to be thriving.

There's an energy to these markets a world away from the antiseptic offerings of the supermarkets and the sometimes overpriced farmers markets.

On a side note, picked my first marketmore cuc today, looks like an overgrown gherkin but tastes well enough!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

yep the prices around hay are a tad on the pricey side:rotfl:

but i love this place, a steal at 1.5 million:p

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30761026.html

could just imagine a period drama/tv programme being filmed there...or better still, me in my pink wellies and my motley crew t.shirt strolling around the place:D

ahhhh to have money....'sigh'

edit.. for for a few pennies more ( 2.650 million) you could have the 197 acres too

lostinrates

I'd rather buy from small scale people and eat more seasonally. We've forgotton so much of that. There is nowt wrong with bottled produce in the lean months. Or even buying in a percentage of stuff.

But I couldn't eat entirely local and seasonal. I love avocados. And won't be able to grow them any time soon.

alfie_1

hello peeps....:)
well iv been busy...well BF and i have been clearing the fence line of random 12-15ft holly trees...when i say BF and i, i mean BF did the hard work and i pointed !! :rotfl:
theyve been cut down to about 5ft so they will bush and form more of a hedge... they were only green at the tops so should work and holly being a deterent to anyone "taking a short cut" !! BUT there are a few "dodgy" trees there too...[so hidden by the holly] they are as dead as the preverbial dodo !!:o will have to organise the felling as they are road side !!:(
ive also "pointed" at all the recyclable wood posts etc that can be used for my SHACK building idea..... and they have been duly stacked.. i have a mountain of holly to burn but bless his cotton sox,BF has sawn what can be burnt as logs first....:T we have also put an extra 3ft height around the other fence line so's the chooks will be safer. just got to clear the build up of leaf mulch thats in the bottom of the [spring fed] ditch so its better for the ducks and goosegoggins to paddle/swim in....

i am seriously shattered...:)

AND ....iv bought things i shouldn't have off of "the bay"....:D