the daydream fund challenge thread

COOLTRIKERCHICK

sorry Rozee i mis understood your comment, as you can appreciate it is a bit of sore subject for us anyway as we cant afford to buy the type of property we want in our area.

Thanks Davesnave for pointing my comment out, its just soooooooo frustrating for us, as the more we save, the more the prices go up, so the price gap is getting even bigger.

its a nice day here, so hubby and i are going to have a look at large sheds..

in the next few weeks we are moving our business to a large factory, so we were thinking rather than build an internal office, we would buy a large wooden building to put inside the factory to use as an office, my logic behind this is, if anything happens in the future that we have to move/close/ downsize the business i have an extra shed for my chickens:D. where as if we build one out of plaster board etc, then we could not re- use it...

going now as i am waiting for Micheal schmacker to do his qualifying lap in the f1:rotfl:

rozeepozee

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

we cant, and i'm glad you find it bemusing, as i dont.... but again there is alot of places not only wales...

By bemusing, I meant puzzling/confusing - not amusing or funny. I was being sympathetic - sometimes these things can get lost in translation in type

EDIT: I've just seen Dave's and your later post CTC. Glad we cleared that up. It must be infuriating for you - I don't really know what the solution is in a free market because, like Dave, whilst I have every sympathy, I'm part of the problem (in my forties, bought in London in my early 20s (1993) helped with a deposit from my parents, earned large London wage and then moved up North and bought BTL properties with the money earned earlier in my career, have partner in a similarly strong financial position). It seems to be so much worse for younger people these days though. When I bought my first place in London, that seemed hugely expensive and was more than double the cost of properties my friends in the North of England were buying - £75K instead of £35K - but now youngish people on an average wage can't afford to buy as a couple, let alone on their own. I'm in Sheffield where a small terrace can cost £150K+ (the same one that cost £35 in 1993) and the average wage here is about £25K, so it's not just rural areas. There certainly seems to be no will from any of the mainstream policitical parties to tackle this problem either, no controls on borrowing. When I got my first mortgage, you could only borrow 2 and a half times your salary, which meant that there were some constraints on the price a buyer could offer - no longer, so people are willing to pay what is essentially silly money as long as they think they can afford the monthly mortgage payment...

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

its a nice day here, so hubby and i are going to have a look at large sheds..

in the next few weeks we are moving our business to a large factory, so we were thinking rather than build an internal office, we would buy a large wooden building to put inside the factory to use as an office, my logic behind this is, if anything happens in the future that we have to move/close/ downsize the business i have an extra shed for my chickens:D. where as if we build one out of plaster board etc, then we could not re- use it...

Smart thinking, though of course I hope the business goes the right way for you, but then you could always take it out at a later date!

I'm still looking at chicken houses, among other things, like tractors and ATVs, but it's a bit of a minefield deciding what to get. For everyday work around the nursery, a Kawasaki Mule would be good, but it won't top and chain harrow.:(

Soon, we're getting a guy in to level the polytunnel area and remove a huge pile of compost/manure (and who knows what else) into a holding area on the field. We already have a 'heap' there which I think is where the excavations for the barn went. Then, we want him to remove another heap that's in the front garden (probably the excavations from the extension) so that we can put a car park and sales area out there.

The previous owners solved all their disposal problems by building these huge heaps, and I don't want to follow in their footsteps, but we will get them all in one place first (there's a couple more!) and then decide where to use all the stuff. We've identified a couple of possible locations, on wetter land, where I'll probably be planting trees in a year or two.

Anyway, must go, it's a great day out there and time I wasn't here......!

Rummer

Morning everyone! Yet another lovely dry weekend up here! I so want to go and spend time in the garden but I have too much work on and with it being mothers day I have family to visit later too. Hopefully I will get the chance to pop in a few seeds later.

There are quite a few things I would like to sort out in the garden this year but I am torn between that and using every spare penny to improve our financial situation. I have been trying really hard but everything seems to be going so slowly! CTC I tried with e-bay but really didn't get anywhere and it has put me off trying again. Amazon has been good for books but I am running out of ones I would like to sell now!

Most of the garden work I will start in April when I have some time off, the weekends and evening just seem to disappear!

rhiwfield

Re the comments on smallholding prices a 4.5 acre rough pasture field was put on the market near us, far enough away from town that there would be no chance of building. Asking price? £75,000!!! :eek:.

Glad I'm staying with my current property, but its notably out of synch with my neighbour's gardens which are nearly all ornamental. I just tell myself the veg, fruit and herbs are far more interesting, harder to grow well and feed you And OH does have her rose garden by the front window.

Talking about growing well, I thought I had moved the rhubarb to a new bed and replaced it with herbs. And as planned I've got 4 crowns coming up in the new bed. Trouble is I've also got 2 coming up so far in between the herbs . It'll be wet middle of next week so I'll dig up any I can find and replant then!

Moving the tender seedlings into the greenhouse by day and back into the house at night to avoid the greenhouse heating bill. Have got very conscious of energy bills in last year or two, I begrudge every wasted kWh! The new PV array is generating about 4kWh a day atm, so running the washing machine or dishwasher now tends to coincide with the peak generation time (about 12 noon til 2 pm).

Looking forward to planting the new fruit trees next week (as soon as the beds, paths and supports are finished) and pruning to run them along strained wire. As we've opted for older bush trees this time (instead of maiden whips) hopefully they will bear fruit in the next couple of years.

rozeepozee

It's really motivating to read all your efforts. We're on a really small scale having cleared one of the flower beds in our garden last year as a practice run. We used salvaged baths, about 7 of them, instead of raised beds to keep the slugs away which worked quite well. We have a decent sized garden, but the former owners were really into flowers, shrubs and trees so whilst it looks beautiful from Spring (Rhodedenderons, Camelia, Magnolia, Azalea etc), there was previously nothing edible in there!

I'm using our slightly down at heel conservatory as a greenhouse and have planted up lots of lettuce and herb seedlings which all seem to be germinating quite nicely. I'm then planting them on into two of the baths that we have in there. Last year we didn't start this process til the end of April so we're well ahead of ourselves this year.

Only hurdle will be the fact that I'm gonna give birth to twins in the next month so that will probably put me out of action for a couple of months in prime growing season and whilst DP is great at doing the heavy stuff, he's not quite designed for the fiddlier bits of sewing and potting on.

I've got some aubergine seedlings. Is there any chance that these will fruit if I pot them on or put them in the ground? I've managed to produce tomatoes, cucumber and courgettes before but I've not had much luck with the more exotic type veggies (butternut squash for example).

Off for a swim now - being in the pool is the only time I don't feel like a hephalump!

RP

Blairweech

Hello everyone,

Having spent a fair few days reading this thread, I think setting up a daydream fund is a great idea. I have wanted a smallholding for several years, but now am taking serious steps towards it.

I am fortunate in that I have time on my side, being only 22. I moved out from la casa familia when I was 18, and have been living in the countryside (Tavistock) since then - just past the back of beyond . Anyway, last year I realised that my job was going nowhere, I was never going to get any closer to my dreams and that I had no reasons to stay on my own in Tavy anymore. After looking at all my options, I decided I wanted to go to uni, and in October I will be starting a BSc in Agriculture. Having never farmed before and not being from a farming family, it's pretty frightening - but I know it will be worthwhile and the right thing to do. The main idea behind going down the degree route is that I can get a better paid job at the end of it, and hopefully some funds behind me before making the big move.

Two weeks ago I moved back in with my parents, so I can get some farm experience over the summer - have signed up with WWOOF and will go knocking on peoples doors. Living on my own taught me lots of useful skills - cooking, preserving etc, so I feel more self sufficient than I would otherwise.

Just opened an ISA, and will be transferring the beginnings of my fund into it shortly I am also to be found on the frugal living challenge thread, which will definitely help in my quest for self suffiency!

rozeepozee

Your course sounds fab Blairweech. If we do buy our smallholding, it'd be something I'd like my OH to do and then we could share the benefit of his learning.

Maybe if you are given any helpful reading lists, you could post the titles on here? A bit of theory as background is invaluable - though obviously no replacement for the hands on stuff.

There were loads of WWOOFers when I was in Aus. I didn't know they did it over here too. Do let us know how you get on.

Good luck. You've got an extra 20 years on me and OH and it's a great thing to know what you want to do at that age. I spent 15 years being a lawyer only to realise I was doing it for my parents. I don't use any of those skills now, although, everything happens for a reason and it has helped us to get into the financial position where we might be able to afford a smallholding - although skills-wise we'd be starting almost from scratch!

Davesnave

Well we've submitted our request for planning permission on the polytunnel after filling-in a set of forms as long as your arm, providing design & access statements, maps diagrams and goodness knows what else. If we'd more than 5 hectares, we could just submit a notice to build and act on it 28 days later, if there was no objection, but this could take much longer. One rule for the rich etc etc....:(

We have informed the neighbours, (all 16 of them!) so hope that will ease things somewhat. Ultimately, there's not much anyone can do, as we're agriculturally tied and have to be allowed to earn an income, and there's no better site from an aesthetic POV.

The best news is that we've found a cheap digger man who's also a really nice chap and well-connected. Funnily enough, he comes from a village where DW grew up, but that's over 100 miles away! He's going to introduce us to a post- bashing man who will do all the donkey work on the chicken runs, which would be impossible without a tractor-mounted post driver. Two problems solved in one!

Everything is growing away madly since the rain, including the weeds, but it's great to see all the seeds coming through. DW has found an outlet for some perennials this year, but it looks like we shall have a surplus of tomatoes and peppers thanks to a few wires getting crossed.

Blairweech, welcome! You are very brave!

Karmacat

Good luck to all the posters on here - lots of big life changes are happening!

Dave - I remember having fun (NOT ) with a postholer - getting a bloke in is a much better idea, especially for any quantity.