It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

mardatha

Hopefully the kale will have floated away downstream !!

3v3

mardatha wrote: »

Our garden is a sea of liquid mud. The henpen is a swimming pool of sludge. The hens took one look outside and sensibly stayed in. I am so tired of RAIN. Has anybody got a good recipe for an Ark?

A good recipe for an Ark

Please can you send some my way? The sprinkling we've had was so fine I'm sure it dried before it hit the ground. I, very reluctantly, got the hose out a couple of days ago (the first time!) otherwise I would have had a garden full of vegetable corpses. Despite the "grey" water I utilise on the veggies, they were still gasping for h2o. Despite that, and the fact I was late in the season getting my tomato plants out, I am over the moon to see an abundance of flowers now and also some tomatoes growing :j

Amalgamated my two groups of hens into one last night; no foraging for them today while they get used to one another. Had a bit of pecking order shinnanigans going on, but, so far, so good. They do all know one another from their foraging trips out previously but stayed pretty much to their own seperate groups. Hoping they'll all be a united sisterhood in a couple of days time!

mardatha

Could I borrow a chainsaw and hammer?

3v3

mardatha wrote: »

Could I borrow a chainsaw and hammer?

I'll loan you mine if you have some gopherwood to trade?

bonnie_bumpkins

Softstuff wrote: »

If you get bored of what I call "veg-ish soup", you could always add a teaspoon or two of curry powder for "curried veg-ish soup".

Yum - I think I will do this when I re-heat the soup for lunch. Thanks. I do usually season well as I am a black pepper addict

Softstuff wrote: »

Glad to see you've delurked. Have a slice of virtual cake.

Slice of cake gratefully received! I have 5 very ripe bananas that I am going to make into banana bread this afternoon. My stomach is turning as I think of the potentially a bit brown squashy things - I like them almost green :rotfl: Think I may have to put a peg on my nose until they are all safely in the banana bread mixture where they can't hurt me anymore.

bonnie_bumpkins

ceridwen wrote: »

I sternly reminded The Universe at that point at just how far my life had strayed from what I had expected already and "Dont try it Mate at making it stray any further" ...

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Softstuff

bonnie_bumpkins wrote: »

I have 5 very ripe bananas that I am going to make into banana bread this afternoon. My stomach is turning as I think of the potentially a bit brown squashy things - I like them almost green :rotfl: Think I may have to put a peg on my nose until they are all safely in the banana bread mixture where they can't hurt me anymore.

:rotfl:They're not edible in this house until they're browning. The only way I'd have them harder is in a curry.

ginnyknit

I just got 2 Bokashi bins from freecycle - I take it all back its not full of car booters and dealers picking off the best stuff. Thats 2 successes I have had, with the plantpots!

Am contemplating a bus ride to Mr T to get some garden bargains but its pouring down here so I may hibernate and make banana ice cream instead.


ran out and sprinkled egg shells over my Kale bed in the sheer hope they will survive as the only grrens I have are ornamental cabbages which are no bloomin use but the seeds were loitering.

Mardatha am posting you a chainsaw later along with a copy of my plans for an ark. I have 2 cats and 2 guinea pigs but only 1 rabbit, must get a few more pairs before I load up!

westcoastscot

Mar we're the same - it's quite wintery here, going to get my flannel nightwear out for tonight. We're up the hill from the canal and then the sea - pick me up on your way past if you're heading north/west .

My garden is a washout - it was dry for about 3 weeks early in the year, but I daren't plant as we were still before the last frosts - then it rained most of the summer, so nothing got above 2 inches, then dry for another 3 weeks early in July, nothing grew past the 2 inches, and now its winter!!! Such a short season here, and am really noticing it more since we have a small space - it doesn't matter when you have acres if only half come good, but here every plant matters. I've found those plantlets I buy in to fill gaps seem to grow better, so shall try next year to grow in pots in my shed/greenhouse for longer prior to planting out. We've had no tomatoes, squash/curcubits of any kind, even the perpetual spinach is pathetic!!! I have winter plants coming, so shall try again with them.

Part of the problem is soil fertility I know, we're on a hill, on shallow sandy rocky soil within a stones throw from the sea. Without livestock i've found my compost really slow to make, but we've decided to have chucks again. I've put off having them as I won't be able to totally free range, but we've decided to go with pekins (assuming I can get hold of some - have just missed the game fair at Scone) - I plan to have a small flock (3 or 4) and they can potter among the veggies when I'm home. In the past i've found them fairly kind to my veggies, and less flighty than bigger birds. I have eldest making a wee home on stilts for them at the mo. My plan is to rotate it over my veggie beds to aid fertility, and speed up the composting of plant waste.

Rosanna inspirational post!

Ginny what is a bokashi bin?? sounds like something composty/worm farmy????

Right off to do some sewing alterations, and try and find a home for my craft supplies now i've lost my craftroom.

Fondest wishes to those struggling with illness just now - sometimes we just have to put everything else on hold for a while - remember the seasons will roll around again, and anything we're achieved is a positive which we should try and remember, rather than counting the things we had planned but didn't quite get to.

WCS

ginnyknit

WCS a bokashi bin is a compost maker of sort. It actually pickles the leftovers very fast and you can use the liquid that comes off it ( through a nifty little tap) as plant food or to clean your drains of algae. Theres no smell and you can compost every bit of leftover food cooked or otherwise, you just add a handful of special bran to the layer of food. I have also just found a supplier of the bran thats very cheap!:T