the daydream fund challenge thread

Davesnave

Welcome Ruth, (That's a great name shared by someone in my family!) you are very welcome to join us here.

Sounds like you are very much like the rest of us, with loads to do and a strong vision of the future. A 3/4 acre site is pretty much all you need for veg growing, and many on this thread manage with less, so even if the B&B stays a dream at the moment, you can have a productive plot immediately...well, this coming season anyway.:)

Let us know how you go., giving those weeds a hammering! I shall be doing much the same, as my plot is far from tame yet - they are still down there somewhere, waiting for spring, the devils!:(

Rummer

Hello Ruth! How lovely to have a new person to chat to! I do not have a smallholding or anywhere near 3/4 of an acre however my family and I have managed to grow a lot of our own food in our little patch of garden. We have built it up year on year and hope to maximise things in the next couple of years. Then when we win the lottery we will be prepared to move into our smallholding!

choille

Welcome aboard Ruth. Good on you both making a go at what you've got. It'll help to sell the house when you come to it if you have a go at sorting out the outdoor area.

Today was not too bad, managed to get some shallots in.
Unfortunately over the last few days lost two of last year's lambs - one that I had hand reared & was quite fond of.

Stopped smoking on Monday after too long on the fags - so hopefully that'll mean I'm not as skint, also not as out of puff dragging stuff about & chasing sheep.

stitching_witch

Hello Ruth. On one of my posts (many moons ago) I stated we are doing the same thing - making the most of what we have here.

The allotment is going great guns and we also have an 80ft long garden where we have the apple trees, red and black currants and rhubarb. The chicken run is almost finished but DH is still not up to speed since his latest op in November so everything takes that much longer. The garlic is in and all the cloves have germinated.:j Onions and shallots will go in next week once I've had time to dig the plot.

I've just completed my fifth corsetry course this week (leather corsets this time ) and only one more course to go!

RuthG

Thank you for the welcomes and I look forward to telling you how things are going and possibly offering suggestions to others if I am able.

I made a start this morning, actually. My job is really stressful and I have a client at the moment who is stressing me out more than most. So my DH and I had a conversation this morning about me not taking on any further clients. I have a contract to write a book (on the subject of my job) so i will have to continue working until the book is finished (deadline is July 2010). After that, I will be looking to do something else - such as take in a lodger, sewing (I do dresses for children) and looking to raise plants for sale next year. In the meantime, I need to get the back room sorted as a potential room for a lodger to live in.

So the immediate jobs to do are:
clear veg plot
build compost bins
replace a gate (wooden)
finish book
get the house roof looked at (leaks in places)
finish the kitchen wall (replaced the window - need to complete the plastering)

I already have my onion sets and seed potatoes; just need somewhere to plant them

Ruth

rhiwfield

Hi Ruth, welcome and best of luck!

Like Stitching Witch, we are trying to make the most of what we have. No plans for a smallholding which may be a bit beyond us but doing our best to work with like minded people to encourage local food growing including the council providing more allotments and more grow your own.

With our back garden now fully converted to fruit and veg, we are eyeing an awkward 250 sq ft piece of land adjacent to the small access road to the front. This is the only bit of garden we havent touched but, with access paths, retaining walls and a low fence to keep off the local mutts, I reckon we could get another 4 apple trees in. This time though, I'm getting in the builders to save my back!

OH is about to have two knee ops (and be made redundant ), so we're looking at reskilling to make sure that we make ends meet. Hmmmm, leather corsets

RuthG

Thanks, rhiwfield. Leather corsets sounds interesting:eek:

As this thread started out with an idea for saving to realise the dream, I thought I would do some juggling today.

I have an old savings account that I hardly use any more. Well had the book updated and there was £786 in it.
I am already saving all loose change, so decided I would add that to the fund too, plus everything in coins that's left over at the end of a week. So that has added £119 since the start of the year (including a jar or two full of coins from previous attempts to save this way).
Then I decided that as I have budgeted £50 per week for groceries, anything I dont spend in a week from that will go into the fund too.
Plus, if/when I sell anything, that will be counted as additional funds and so will also go into the fund. I have a load of books from when my children were small (they are now in their 20s!) which I can sell, possibly through Amazon or through a group I know of that needs such books. I put a box full together and worked out that if I sell the paper cover ones for 50p and the hard cover ones for £1, that box alone will net me £50, so it seems to be worth doing.

The fund will then be used to do the necessary work on the current house (there are some renovations as well as the roof to do), which will all add value to the hosue so we should get a better price for it when we come to selling it.

DH and I are well into DIY, so much of the work we can do ourselves (changing windows, plastering walls, changing/fitting a new bath, decorating); just draw the line at the roof - needs a professional for that methinks.

Meanwhile, I need to continue working at what I do and I will get the garden up and running and maybe sell off the surplus plants (if there are any). Did think about growing herbs and wildflowers and selling them as small plants as these seem to be in demand - any thoughts?

On a roll already !

Ruth

Davesnave

BenW wrote: »

Meanwhile, I need to continue working at what I do and I will get the garden up and running and maybe sell off the surplus plants (if there are any). Did think about growing herbs and wildflowers and selling them as small plants as these seem to be in demand - any thoughts?
Ruth

If you are going to sell small plants, you will need to produce a good number to make the time input worthwhile, but at the same time you should also avoid becoming too professional, when your costs skyrocket.
Going to markets and plant fairs can be profitable, but those will demand you have third party insurance and take fees: £50+ in some cases.

This makes home the ideal place to sell from, but if home is not in the right place, little will be sold. In that event, car boots, fetes and the like will be your best bet. Don't rule out your local WI Market either......


....Newsflash! As I was typing the above, a letter arrived from Bideford Farmers' Market. They want £15 + VAT for a small stall, a Food Hygiene Cert and £5million worth of Public Liability Insurance. Proves my point rather neatly. I estimate it would take us 50 minutes to reach Bideford and the van would burn a good £15 worth of diesel to get there & back. Enough said.

We spent some years finding the right site for our nursery, which had to be on a road busy enough to supply trade, but not so busy that living there would be a noisy nightmare. This is it.:D With luck, we won't need to go off gallivanting around the place, burning precious fuel and using-up that other valuable commodity, time. That lady in Pembrokeshire producing jams & chutneys on 'My Dream Farm' this week had the right idea; a self-service stall outside her house. She had many other outlets too and turned over 50k jars a year, but that was optional.

Anyone else finding it hard to empathise with those on the above programme? I feel it's a bit like Sarah Beeny's 'Property Ladder' & teetering on the edge of car-crash television at times.:(

Oh, and leather corsets.....niche market....I've been there. Ask Stitchy!

choille

Snowing again.

Goodness - this Winter just goes on & on.

Yes - The Dream Farm thing isn't as watchable as I first thought when I saw the trailers, same with the crafts programme that Monty Don is doing as well.

rhiwfield

choille wrote: »

Snowing again.

Goodness - this Winter just goes on & on.

Yes - The Dream Farm thing isn't as watchable as I first thought when I saw the trailers, same with the crafts programme that Monty Don is doing as well.

Hard frosts at night but snow hasnt stuck this week, thank goodness. In the greenhouse the vents are open in the sun, but it was minus 3C last night in there. Still need to get my timing right on autumn sowings under cover, went to a smallholders for a bit of work and lunch last week and had superb salad leaves they'd sopwn sept/oct, with home bread and soup. Yet our greenhouse stood empty in the autumn and most of the winter because it needed disinfecting and is only just coming into action now. Got to do better!!

Have been very disappointed at Dream Farm, it seems like the producers picked those people least likely to succeed, the last two episodes made me wince at times. I supppose they dont think it good enough tv to show people making a real effort with a realistic chance of succeeding.