the daydream fund challenge thread

RAS

That polytunnel looks brilliant Dave. Will be a major job skinning that.

choille - at the very least try to get the flower heads off the thistles and ragwort, dry (joke) and burned to prevent them seeding? How's the house? And hate hate midges.

choille

Hiya RAS how are you & the bees?

Ragwort pulls out quite easily & I do the whole place once a year & hardly have any ragwort coming up now. The Hebredians & the Shetlands eat the thistle heads off as if they are a real treat - they look ecstatic when they chew them - weird to see! But I try & pull up the plants.
I have a real bad crop of dockings too & may spray when it dries up - I don't usually spray but it's a bad patch on a rough bit of ground where there are no animals - would just use Roundup but don't even like using that

alfie_1

choille wrote: »

Hiya RAS how are you & the bees?

Ragwort pulls out quite easily & I do the whole place once a year & hardly have any ragwort coming up now. The Hebredians & the Shetlands eat the thistle heads off as if they are a real treat - they look ecstatic when they chew them - weird to see! But I try & pull up the plants.
I have a real bad crop of dockings too & may spray when it dries up - I don't usually spray but it's a bad patch on a rough bit of ground where there are no animals - would just use Roundup but don't even like using that

i remember i was told years ago to make up a strong salt/water solution to kill weeds. i tried it and it worked but i cant remember what type of weeds they were !

dave...your polytunnel puts the profesionals to shame ! what a smart looking building....well done.

Davesnave

alfie_1 wrote: »

dave...your polytunnel puts the profesionals to shame ! what a smart looking building....well done.

Ah, but I didn't set out the corners, and these days we have laser levels, so there'd be no excuse for wonkiness. I think the hard bit will be skinning it tidily. :eek:

It's 42' x 24', which is what fitted in, rather than a size I had in mind. It's cost effective to go large, particularly if it lets us grow a surplus to barter/sell.

There are a few things holding us up, like some wrong fittings being supplied, but nothing insurmountable.

Choille, I found a few ragwort last week. The first summer here we had hundreds, last year just over 50 came up, and this year I found about half a dozen, so they seem easier to control than docks. I read somewhere that dock seed stays viable for up to 70 years!

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

Choille, I found a few ragwort last week. The first summer here we had hundreds, last year just over 50 came up, and this year I found about half a dozen, so they seem easier to control than docks. I read somewhere that dock seed stays viable for up to 70 years!

I find it has almost a biennial habit. Every second year you get the same patches....so this year you really are reaping the rewards of last year. We're ''lucky'' that ragwort is not our problem, but the thistles are just terrible . They've seeded too. :(:(:(. I just can't keep up with them. I'd say we have three acres ish that if we don't spray we might have to reseed...then another acre or so of big thistle patches.

RAS

choille wrote: »

Hiya RAS how are you & the bees?

Well we have had wet windy and rather cold; which may be one reason we escaped the antics going on in other cities. One small incident that was dealt with very promptly and 4 lads in nick.

The bees are doing fine; our houseproud lot have a super on and we are hoping for a very small amount of honey - maybe a comb or two. The colony is already big enough for winter so once we take that off they can carry on adding stores.

The second lot still stick everything together and make brace comb anyway they can. We will look at them this weekend if it is warmer tomorrow and they should be large enough to let the queen into the top brood box to lay more brood for over wintering. They are going to be border line size wise bu we can but hope and try to feed them up this autumn.

If they make it through I think we should try to re-queen next spring from our tidy lot. The also seem the more productive strain and are so quiet and gentle.

choille

There's a heck of a ragwort on someone else's ground that seeds blow from. I'd got it almost eradicated here until this past while.I've not had Rhodedendron on my croft until the last year - that is also seeding from someone else's ground. It's the pink peril - pontificummmmmmmmmm? sp? It's a notifiable weed & is all around - poisonous to sheep, cows etc. I didn't know that the seeds are carried on the wind.
Docks are bad on my ground & I will spray after cutting off the tops. Didn't realise that the seeds last so long ..............gosh.
RAS sounds like you are really getting into the bee thing - great stuff.
I'd forgot about the rioting - which is pretty thick of me as it doesn't seem real as there was none here or anywhere in Scotland I don't believe. I watched some of it on the telly but couldn't really understand it as it didn't appear to be about any thing political. When I watched the news & saw a (obviously well off) model done for looting out of Argos, I felt that I don't know what's going on out in the 'real'? world anymore.

Done me Saturday changeover so am all clean & bathed so am now off out to get all mucky.

lostinrates

RAS, your bees sound super efficient. DH found some wasps in the hive earlier.

alfie_1

LIR..... i spotted a bee hive thingy on some ones drive today[looks newly/being renovated..house that is !] and it def wasnt being "lived IN"...if i stop and ask there tomorow,do you want it ,if any good ?? [dont intend to pay for it ]

i never realised there was SOOOO much to do for bees !! theres me thinking that they all just sort em selves out and we just get honey....in a jar......:D

lostinrates

Yes please!