No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

scottishminnie

Afternoon ladies - as always you have all been so productive- it leaves me thinking what on earth have I been faffing around at since Friday?!

I had a Costco trip on Friday night and spotted some price increases there - I'm certain the big jars of peanut butter (my weakness) were much less than £4.50ish and the laundry powder seemed more expensive too. Nothing in comparison to Asda's price rise on Mozarella cheese (smart price version) - it's gone from 44p to 60p:eek: - there will be no more of that for a while.

Hubby has started my garden extension and we already have a difference of opinion over the layout so I need to sketch it out before he goes much further. I don't think he understands how much space fruit trees need around them. I'm planning to order them online as there simply aren't any decent independent garden centres or nurseries around any more. I'm sure Dobbies etc are fine for most people but they simply aren't for me. I've found this fruit tree supplier and I'm quite taken with them. Do any of you have a "nut" tree - it wasn't something I'd thought of until I saw the website- now I'm pondering.

Half of the tomato babies have been repotted and I need to scrounge pots for the rest as they are too dashed expensive to buy. Mum promised to look in her greenhouse and donate what she had in return for 6 tomato plants - seems like a good deal as I was giving her some anyway!
I sowed cabbage and beetroot yesterday in the mini propogators and strawberry plants in a tub outside (they were a gift from a friend). Even my spare room now has a window ledge of veggies!

I've had an expensive few days - something has gone wrong with the dishwasher - disaster! - and the heating cycle was being temperemental - now it won't draw water so there is obviously a serious problem. Cheapest call out is £75 so after much debate I've ordered a new one. I had visions of paying £75 plus another £50 or so for a repair and it only lasted a little while. It was a cheap buy at the time and was false economy as we discovered pretty soon after getting it home that it was really poor quality. I'm actually quite surprised we got 2 years out of it before it died.

The weather is shocking here today. I had planned on a major strimming exercise as it was nice and brigfht earlier however in true bank holiday tradition it is absolutely chucking it down now and shows no signs of stopping so I've replanned and am off to make batches of macaroni cheese and perhaps I will then venture to the garage and build the 2 mini greenhouse things I bought in the lakeland sale last year. That's if I can get to them - hubby has "tidied" them into a corner behind a mountain of stuff. To think we ever considered that we might use the garage for a car is laughable, we've monopolised every inch of space in there:)

[Deleted User]

Hello SCOTTISHMINNIE - I'm so glad the tomato babies are thriving (Awwwwww! Tomato Babies!!!!!!!) and growing despite the lack of warmth and sunshine, we have a little wooden gadget that makes small flower pots from a sheet of newspaper that are just the right size for potting on, it has saved us quite a lot of money over the years. Of course you cant re-use them but the roots grow through the paper so you just plant the whole thing in the grow bag/ground when the time comes. We have a couple of nut trees but the Walnut is only 3 years old and 18" high so not big enough to fruit yet, we do have a corkscrew hazel that is big enough but one bush doesn't give many nuts. A friend in the village has a mature Walnut in her garden and they usually get a good crop, if that is, they can harvest before the squirrels do! If they will grow at your end of the country Kent Cob Nuts fruit prolifically when they are mature but I don't know how hardy they are. Might be worth a look on t'internet as they would be a good investment for the future. I am only going to print this quietly but, there is something yellow outside in the sky which is causing me great excitement, if I can catch some in a bucket I'll send it up north to you Cheers Lyn x.

scottishminnie

MrsLW - great ideas about the pot maker gadget - I'm sure my neighbour has one of them so I may ask to borrow it.

I love the idea of a Walnut tree - I also love squirrels and would gladly share the nuts if I had one in the garden although I'm not sure squirrels quite get the "sharing" concept!

Do keep you eye on that big yellow thing - I think I'll need to go look at some old photos to remind myself what it used to look like!

[Deleted User]

mmm re walnut tree, I read somewhere that nothing decent can grow around them for quite a big area. Might be worth checking. Re apple trees, I put in 3 maidens from Ian Sturrock, they will only grow to 10-12 feet tall and need to be 10` apart

I believe that future growing seasons will be shorter ie food will become more expensive. I have decided to get through my current stockcupboard and then I`ll start again, I just cannot make myself be minimalistic re our food stores, anyway it is a great way of saving.

If future seasons are shorter then it`ll make sense to grow the old fashioned staples like brassicas, onions, parsnips and so on. I think I`ll only make an effort with chillis every three years or so as they freeze beautifully. I have chillis here and loads of tomatoes and I have put some out in pots but they are pretty sheltered from the wind and don`t really get rained on. An experiment I suppose,

Heck I do hope we get some sun soon, this is so awful

[Deleted User]

Hello everyone, feeling very mellow courtesy of a really nice meal at our lovely local and a couple of glasses of vino, it's raining again but, currently I don't really mind! The walnut tree our friends have is in a luxuriant mixed bed in their garden and seems to be very healthy as does everything else around it. They are in the Yellow Book and open to the public so I know they have the knowledge of what to plant around it so it would be very much worth checking planting advice as Kittie suggests - the tree is quite large and I suspect a very greedy feeder so underplanting would have to be precise. I wholeheartedly agree with Kittie that old fashioned staples will be the sensible option in years to come and any method of preservation that can be utilised should be, or it's a daunting prospect for the future. Sorry that sounds very dark and dire doesn't it but what I really mean is that sometimes the old fashioned ways are the most sensible option and we all like nice food don't we? Hope you have all had a good day, and that you will all have another one tomorrow Cheers Lyn x.

Kaz2904

I'm currently doing the live below the line challenge where you have to eat for £1 per day for 5 days. I have actually got out my cook book "my grandmothers kitchen" to rummage through for ides. I'm liking the bagels and the potato cakes muscly. Very cheap and cheerful.
I also costed out ftm's scones last night and they came to 22.45 p or thereabouts. I can see myself making a batch of these to stave off the sweet cravings. I'll have them with my home made lime marmalade. I made this on Friday evening. It cost £2 for 7 jars. I only just had enough sugar to make it and it took an awfully long time to cook down.
I think we'll have to readjust our lifestyles to preserving in any ways we can to cope with shorter growing seasons too. We have lost nearly everything we put in, seeds plants or otherwise. I am so very tempted to get chickens or ducks to try and control the slug population but think our garden is too small and they would eat the plants too.
My friend put in an order with approved foods the other day. When it arrived and she proudly showed her DH the 2.6kg tin of plums in apple juice she had bought, he asked what on earth she was going to do with it. Kaz2904 is going to have to come round and teach me how to make jam was her reply . I gave her a tin of marmalade last night. She was delighted

[Deleted User]

Hi KAZ - hope your DDs arm is on the mend and that she is feeling better. You can keep chickens permanently in a chicken ark, which has a built in roost area at the top and a laying box, all over a built in run. These are moveable, they have handles to lift it at both ends and you can position it wherever you have space in the garden. We have one of these which we have used for several lots of chickens over the years. Ours will take up to 5 bantams or 3 normal sized hens. The chicks go up a drop down ladder to roost at night and you keep it foxproof by pulling up the ladder and fastening it to the top of the ark.(dropping it down inside the run to let them out in the morning) Ours is made by Forsham Cottage Arks but there are loads of different ones available for different numbers of chicks. You could always catch the slugs and put them into the run, chickens go mad for them! Best thing about arks is you can put them over picked out crops for the chicks to finish off the greenery and fertilize your beds at the same time. Cheers Lyn x.

Kaz2904

Thanks for the good wishes for DD. she's been in a fair amount of pain the last couple of days. I've just had her # clinic appointment through for tomorrow at 11. Hopefully the X-ray will show that it's healing well and hopefully she can get a shorter cast on. Unfortunately, I'm going to be bushed as I've got a night shift tomorrow night. At least it's not on Friday as I'm doing Friday night too so would have had to get DH to take the day off work to take her. Fingers crossed all is well with her arm though.
Have resumed knitting my cardigan. Am still worrying that I am not going to have enough yarn to finish it! I'll be spitting feathers!
Very wet here again. Will it ever end?

[Deleted User]

Hello KAZ - hope all goes well at the clinic for your DD tomorrow - will be thinking of you both. The rain is with us too and looks like being heavier through this afternoon, the Lurcher is getting very surly about the whole wet walkies thing and has been known to hide behind the sofa to avoid being dragged out (That is if he gets there before I do!!!!!!!) the weekend would hold some promise of being drier according to the BBC - lets hope so! Keep treading water and don't forget to breathe as they say- Cheers Lyn and her boy.

Kaz2904

Well just popped on to update. DD's # clinic appointment didn't go so well . Consultant said that they'll see her in a week and decide what to do from there. I'm guessing that means they might still need to operate again. Saw the X-rays and the bones aren't even close together yet. Hm, fingers crossed. She's taken it well again though