the daydream fund challenge thread

Davesnave

Rummer wrote: »

I am however going to battle the nettle patch at the bottom of the garden so that I can use my cold frame this year. What is the best way to kill them without damaging the other things around?

'Glove of death!'

A cotton glove over a rubber glove. Dunk your hand in a strong mix of glyphosate (like Roundup, but use a generic) and wallpaper paste, then just run the nettles through your gloved hand.

Nettles can need 2 applications like this, but they do give up eventually. Soil will be unaffected.

Itismehonest

Well, the field shelter looks more like a ridge tent this morning but the ponies are munching happily away with manes & tails blowing in all directions.
We can't get up to dismantle it at the moment - winds still too high & it looks like another band of rain/hail is on the way.

If you don't want to use some thing like Roundup, Rummer, then you're left with digging all the nettles out by hand; the long, slow process of painting weedkiller on leaves, waiting for the plant to die back & then digging out the roots or flame throwing & digging out.

covenanter

Just caught up with reading the last 10 pages of posts! Belated Happy New Year to all. :wave:
Noticed that someone mentioned that there were not too many people on the eastern side of the country. Well, I'm in NW Cambridgeshire - one of the driest parts of the country. This is probably why all my waterbutts are full to overflowing and the lawn is like a peat bog!:(
So much for the threat of a hosepipe ban soon.

I have been looking back over some of the pictures of people's plots and I would love to have as much land as Davesnave has, but I think that we are a bit old for that much now, plus DH would think it a good idea at the time but his enthusiasm would disappear after about a week and that would leave muggins to do all the work!

Our garden is more the size of ukmaggie54's, but one side is taken up with a garage/workshop, which makes it a bit narrow. Still, lots of south-facing wall for my mini fruit trees.

But the garden I most crave is rhiwfield's. I just love looking at the pictures of it - if only my garden was as neat - and I intend to gradually 'nibble-away' at DH's lawn and flowerbeds to extend my 4 raised beds, hoping that he doesn't notice!:rotfl:

Still, enough dreaming for me, I was going to ask whether anyone has any recommendations for runner beans. I usually plant Polestar as my DH likes the stringless beans, but last year they didn't do very well (fresh seed, so it's not that). Was it just a bad year for Runners in general or did anyone have good crops from a specific variety? I'm just about to order my seeds.

alfie_1

welcome to newbies...we now have cambrideshire.....we are going global !!

well so far today...ive sold my car,:) had email my cousins coming from canada:) and land agent LOVED mabel..:)

im now off out to get some shopping .


so...so far its all :)s

Itismehonest

Yay :j Congratulations on the car sale, alfie.

Incidentally, you've probably discovered this site (or knew of it already) but I thought it may come in handy for the old guy's motors?

The sun is out now Still blowing but things are starting to look up. Water has stopped running down the lane, too.
Tomorrow looks like it may be a grand tidy-up-the-downed shelter, branches, fence ....... & anything else we come across as we do the rounds ... day.

:o Just realised I didn't welcome the newcomers. Sorry.

rhiwfield

Well done Alfie! Though I'd have expected you to be at Bulstrodes yesterday afternoon

Thanks Covenanter, I'm blushing . Heard quite a few stories of runners not doing well but we were lucky with our direct sown Scarlet Emperor giving an excellent crop.

Getting a load of linen ready for sale makes me realise how well made stuff used to be. Material is often superb, really heavy linen, that would last lifetimes. And sheets that have been darned, and still will last lifetimes!! Just picked out a thin wash towel, lovely white material, with various laundry marks "WRNS QTS GADWALL" & " RNAS" & "CLARKE 1PLMA 88 (?) 1948 BELFAST". And its as good as new!!

annie123

Rummer wrote: »

:j:j:j

I want to start planting NOW

You and me both
I've done a seed audit this afternoon and it was sooooo tempting just to start a little pepper plant or 10:o or a tom maybe? but was a good girl and settled on putting my first early seed tatties in egg boxes

In my head my gardens at least as big as davesnave's, but in reality it's 30' long and 10' wide, but I don't let that stop me dreaming of bigger planting schemes

I'm in south east London, not far from kent and surrey boarders and whilst I don't often post I always read.

Lotus-eater

annie123 wrote: »

You and me both
I've done a seed audit this afternoon and it was sooooo tempting just to start a little pepper plant or 10:o or a tom maybe? but was a good girl and settled on putting my first early seed tatties in egg boxes

I had this conversation with a friend over Christmas.

I'm going to sow some chilli seeds and that's all atm. Chillies take so long to grow here, because it's so cold, I always mean to start them off now and never get round to it.

ukmaggie45

Rummer wrote: »

We are at the bottom of a gentle slope and the front garden is poorly drained so we often end up with a small lake out the front. The only things that really cope are heathers and grasses and our garden always looks rubbish compared to the others in the street

Suggest yellow flag irises and other bog plants to make it pretty? Sundew? Depends a bit if it dries out in summer! Do you have sedge growing in it? Cotton grass is fun if it's sufficiently wet, I always loved that as a child and used to try and get my Dad to go and fetch me some (I wasn't allowed near bog in case I got stuck). He did sometimes, magic stuff cotton grass!

ukmaggie45

Davesnave wrote: »

'Glove of death!'

Hmm, hardly Organic! :eek: