the daydream fund challenge thread

catspaw

Can I sneak in and join please? I would love a small holding, had a huge allotment until 2 years ago when I divorced, mobved half way across the country and now only have a small garden

lostinrates

welcome catspaw what do you grow in your garden now?

Rummer

Welcome Catspaw, I just have a large patch of garden but I am still holding out for that lottery win and small holding!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

flip Davesnave you got a big one:D looks very strong too

welcome catspaw,

got back from the Bulldog a few hours ago, so havent had a chance to catch up on the posts..( except davesnave's show us his errect big one)

had a fantastic time.. totally needed a blow-out the quo were fantastic...

right going to zonk out on the sofa and watch fawlty towers









I was talking about Davesnave's new polytunnel....:p

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

flip Davesnave you got a big one:D looks very strong too.......

.....I was talking about Davesnave's new polytunnel....:p

I couldn't imagine anything else you might be talking about.

Yes, knowing what happened to the polytunnel we inherited in last winter's snow, I'm hoping this one's strong enough. The slope of the roof isn't as steep as I'd like, but I wanted one with high, straight sides to maximise space inside.

Spent almost the entire day & evening at a wedding anniversary do in the village yesterday, so I'm feeling a bit guilty today, but it's important to take time out like that. Glad you enjoyed the Bash and The Quo, who I may have seen back in the 'Matchstick Men' days, but I don't remember too much about those times! :o

Welcome to catspaw. You don't need any land to join this thread, just an interest in what goes on in other folks' back gardens, fields, window boxes, or whatever.

Speaking of which....I've junked all the early toms now (having collected enough seeds) to make room for more peppers, which seem to be doing pretty well. My second lot of those Bijou mangetouts have gone out, and so has some celeriac. I've no idea about the latter, but a friend gave me the seeds, so I had to grow some!

Choille, I know it isn't popular, especially on allotment forums where folks have used contaminasted manure, but Grazon will give you control of docks without killing grass. Of course, if you are going to re-seed, then glyphosate is the way to go, and a wee bit cheaper.;)

John_Pierpoint

If its not a rude question, how big is yours and what sort of money does it cost (I've seen some much more rickety examples in use commercially) ?

When do you need planning permission?

Davesnave

It's 42'x24' and I bought it last year before the VAT increases. I think it comes in at around £2.1k today, but I got it for about £1900 plus two sets of sliding doors thrown-in.

Planning permission is usually required if the tunnel is 'commercial in size, and although I'm guessing a bit, I think that's over 14' wide with an appropriate length for that width, say 25' - 30'. My old tunnel here has PP. It was originally about 15' x 27'..... before I lopped a bit off.

I've just heard that we're to lose our source for free hen food. I'd be upset, but the news also means that someone who was enduring a really naff job has found something much better....and that makes the loss worth it.

RAS

choille wrote: »

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..

Ponticum - hate it with a vengence. One thing I have done when we were clearing ground infested with it, was to go round before it really flowered and take off all the flower buds and burn tham with the other brash.

That meant that even though we could not lift it all in one or two years, it reduced the seeding.

However, my guess is that the owner is the neighbour from hell?

choille wrote: »

RAS sounds like you are really getting into the bee thing - great stuff.

Well I have wanted to keep bees for over 20 years but this has been the first time i have had a safe space to put them. Added to which, it ain't a cheap hobby and if you are just one person, it ties you to inspections every week during the swarming season. With a group it is much easier; this week's inspection is being done by someone else because I have too much at work.

RAS

alfie_1 wrote: »

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

That used to be the situation to some extent. You need to control swarming; every time they fly away that £100 worth of honey winged it s way out of your hive.

But as long as you kept that under control (and adding an extra brood box they do not really need might keep that under control for a month half the time), you used to be able to leave them alone. I remember friend leaving a spare colony in a remote situation and visiting it once a month or two when they were in the area.

You really cannot afford to do that now. Varroa really needs to be checked for and kept on top of, as do other nasties. We treated all the colonies on arrival (because they had no brood we just had to zap them once). One lot were heavily infested.

When the honey super comes off, we will treat them again this autumn, and then after Christmas when there is no brood. One of the bee keepers a bit away spotted a notifiable disease in his colonies, so everyone around him had to check their hives and get the bee inspector in.

So these days, they need more managment than in the old days.

On the other hand we are now only inspecting every fortnight or so and not disturbing them much when we do. Apart from anything else we can see loads of pollen going in which means the queens are laying well.

RAS

lostinrates wrote: »

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

Has he got an entrance block in place? Makes it easier for the bees to defend the space?

We have been advised to set up wine bottles with a bit of jam and water to trap wasps; I do find them hunting our bees.