No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

[Deleted User]

Morning all, what a day yesterday for all of us, horrible, horrible, horrible!!!!! Today we have cloudy but some blue sky and some sun, it's still not too cold so cannot complain at all. DH has just discovered that we have some parsnips germinated on the allotment, we thought they were a no go as they were put in in the spring and it has taken this long for them to sprout. Our broad beans are beginning to be harvested and the beans are a good size but we are putting ALL in the freezer as I cannot convince myself that much is going to be bountiful this year. The runners and french we put in are tiny and just hanging on to life - my bonus of the week was two good sized containers of gooseberries from out friends allotment which are also in the freezer as we are still picking our own rhubarb and will eat that and store all else.

We have tried a new potato variety this year 'Juliette' which is a waxy one and eel worm and blight resistance is reputed to be good. We have lifted one root and they are quite small but undamaged so that bodes well. Last years crop was decimated by eel worm and those tiny black slugs that make holes to live in in your potatoes. They didn't store and were very wasteful as I had to throw so much of each one away.

The polytunnel is very productive and I have just harvested a colander full of peas and two good sized courgettes for lunch today as DD1 is coming home for out trip to Sweden on Tuesday which I am looking forward to very much. She is in the process of house buying so will have to go back home as soon as we get back and not stay for the rest of the summer holidays as she normally does, sad for me but lovely for her to have her own home at last.

FTM - hope all is well with Heather and Emma and that your poor garden is surviving the onslaught of this awful weather.

SM - hope the ground has dried out a bit in the new patch, raised beds sound like a very good idea I feel they would have to be 6' tall for must of the country to keep the veg out of the flood water!!!

KITTIE - thank you so very much for all the weather information you supply us with, it is so useful to have some idea of what we are in for and prepare as best we can. You are very generous. I am wondering about investing in a dehydrator, we have had a cheapie one for a few years now but it really isn't up to the job and I've given up trying as the results were so poor. Is the excalibur as good as it sounds and did your produce store well for a long period, I found that ours went mouldy despite being stored according to the manufacturers instructions. We ended up putting dehydrated goods into the freezer just so they would keep, and that seemed just plain daft to me.

Have a good and hopefully dry day everyone Cheers Lyn x.

[Deleted User]

Mrs LW I have had 3 types of dehydrator in my lifetime, I bought the excalibur after we moved and I still had some spare cash. I had been hankering after one and believe me it is the best and most efficient you can get, definitely one I would buy again. It has a variable temperature dial and a timer, which I find invaluable

I am making the most of the brief respite in the weather in order to get my act together re saving what I can in the garden and allotment. Went to the allotment yesterday evening after yet another blight warning and have taken the all haulms off, also dug up one whole bed of potatoes, now lying on the garage floor because they are too muddy and it was too late to deal with them. There was a sign of blight, hidden underneath some leaves so it is definitely action time

On the way past my april sown onions, I had a good look and the leaves looked below par. I decided not to wait because of the dire forecast and I took the lot up, hacked off the leaves and bagged them and brought all the bulbs home. The whole lot are now peeled and all 9 trays in the dehydrator are full and have been dehydrating all night. I will saute the rest and freeze in portions.

I am going to be very very busy preserving potatoes from this afternoon, starting with the largest which I will wash and slice, steam for 4 minutes then dehydrate. When this lot are done then we will start digging up the other bed, the haulms are off but the potatoes will keep fine in the ground for a couple of weeks. I am disappointed at not being able to enjoy a meal at a time straight from the ground but damage limitation is more important

My chard has bolted so I removed them and a neighbours caulies have bolted. Local farmer lost a field full of ruined potatoes costing him £25000. Heard yesterday that, locally, rapeseed farmers cannot get combines onto their fields for harvesting. Utter disaster as far as crops are concerned. Also grain crops are falling due to sappy growth and farmers are using double the amount of fungicide. Broccoli, caulies and carrots are difficult for supermarkets at the moment and they will have to import so prices will definitely rise

Also re the stored dehydrated produce, yes it is storing beautifully and over a year now. I don`t take any chances and I usually dehydrate during the day, then turn the temperature to minimum and carry on all through the night. Everything done like that has stored in pristine condition

I managed to gather 500g of strawberries together yesterday, 430g hanging dry from planters and 70g wet from the allotment. I made some gorgeous jam but put into plastic boxes in fridge as I doubt it would store in a cupboard due to the wet portion. So nice on a portion of thin sponge cake, topped with cream and a few strawberry slices

kezlou

congratulations welcome to the world emma!

WEll i've given uo with whole veg growing, all thats left is some fruit and sprouting brocooli everything has been eaten by the slugs and snails.

Bought some herbs from HB for £1.99 so planted them, they lok goo dso fingers crossed they'll grow.

finished painting so going to get the door curtians up soon, for the first time two years we'll be able to close the passage door and block the cold air coming in throught he front door

What can i say little things bring so much pleasure, like warm feet!

scottishminnie

Well, the garden swamp is still that. the bricklayer couldn't even hope to do anything at the weekend due to the weather so it's half an acre of mud, pallets of bricks and sand and gravel and hubby isn't talking to me as he thinks I was crazy to insist on starting this project (first weekend in May) when there wasn't time to finish it this year. How I was supposed to know there was 12 weeks of torrential rain ahead I do not know but he is spitting feathers at me:(

It's been miserable all round, I was on the couch most of the weekend with flu like symptoms which didn't help his mood as it's the 3rd successive weekend I've been under the weather. I'm working absolutely ridiculous hours through the week at my job and I think my body just can't take much more by Saturday. My company got taken over a couple of years back though and it's been a miserable place since so it's all we can do to cling on to our jobs. The knives are constanly out for us.

Anyway I'm off to bake tonight as that's been another bone of contention. I maybe can't fix the weather but I can make some fruit loaves:)

flowertotmum

Hello all...thanks so much for all the congratulations,i have passed them alomg to Heather..i have met my beautiful Emma..total bundle of perfection..my dd is doing fine..she had to stay in hospital for a few days to make sure she was totally ok before they would let her go home...it seems that little Miss Emma is a night owl and sleeps all day..o i remember those days lol..and very long nights..but the most important thing is that they are both doing absolutely fine.
We have just about give up growing now..everytime i get it sorted out it bloody rains..torrential rain again last wk..and a storm..but our spuds are gorgeous..have had a few strawberries..thankfully its a bit drier today and tomorrow looks good too...fingers crossed..just need some sun...
Have finished my first knitted dishcloths..they are ok but could be better..
We have decided to treat our 2 tots to a new bike each for the summer..so hopefully they will be here by next week..
Whilst hubby is on holiday we are decorating the spare room for our son to go in..its a bit bigger in there..son is helping kinda..
Had to have a huge clearout ..so it went to the CS and my older girls had some bits too..
Have to go now..thanks so much to all of you..
love
ftm

scottishminnie

Glad you are enjoying spuds FTM - mine are looking very sturdy and I'm hoping the fact that I've got them in huge tubs means they won't get too waterlogged.

I'm currently watching Beechgrove Garden - looking for inspiration:)

I found a packet of sweet peas yesterday - I'm tempted to plant them in a seed tray inside and see what happens. I don't have anywhere they could grow "up" outside but I do love the scent so if I got them to a good size then I can worry about where to put them.

I've replenished the baked goods at mum's so the next lot of visitors will be well fed. Dad thinks he should start driving soon which is great however mum and I have pointed out we think he should be limited to the car for a week or 2 rather than anything larger! One step at a time.

I'm off to patch a pair of hubby's jeans - he didn't lift his leg high enough over the barbed wire so now I have a little repair job. At least it's just his trousers though:)

flowertotmum

I'm off to patch a pair of hubby's jeans - he didn't lift his leg high enough over the barbed wire so now I have a little repair job. At least it's just his trousers though:)
Haha thats so funny...my oh didn't think the fence we climbed over was electrified..boy did he get a shock lol...

So glad your dad is getting there..he will be back to his normal self in no time by the sounds of it...
I love sweetpeas..my neighbour has them all over her garden..i am so tempted to ask if i can pick some...but they are a bit scary so i will admire them from afar..
We did it today...we finally handed in the de-registration letter for Fern to be removed from the school register and be Home Schooled..some think i am crazy and others have been very encouraging..we think its the right thing to do and are both looking forward to it.
got to go tea time
ftm

scottishminnie

flowertotmum wrote: »

We did it today...we finally handed in the de-registration letter for Fern to be removed from the school register and be Home Schooled..some think i am crazy and others have been very encouraging..we think its the right thing to do and are both looking forward to it.
got to go tea time
ftm

FTM - I don't think you are at all mad. Some children respond much better to home schooling and you can tailor their education. No need for the "one size fits all approach". I spent huge periods of time at school bored out of my brain as I was ahead of most of the other kids and naturally we had to work at the pace and the ability of the majority. Good luck with Fern's home schooling - I'm certain she will thank you for it in the not too distant future:)

scottishminnie

It's a bit of a fleeting late night visit this evening I'm afraid. I've been caught up helping on the farm after the day from hell at work and I'm absolutely shattered.

Work finally began on the raised veggie beds at the weekend:j:j. It's only the foundations but at least I can see three distinct beds now and fingers crossed things will continue this coming weekend. I treated myself to some baby chrysanthemums on Saturday so I have some very cheerful planters now which have brightened things up.

For all you bakers out there - Mr T has tins of condensed milk for 50p. It's not a mistake and seems to be nationwide, they are 397g and Carnation. I popped in at the weekend and bought 6 for my storecupboard which earned me a disapproving tut from the checkout operator when she saw them "6?!" she exclaimed - "I'll have to check if there is a limit on how many you can buy". I smiled sweetly and said no problem as I was pretty sure it would be ok. The supervisor confirmed it was and she grudgingly scanned them. I don't care, at that price I can put up with the disapproval:)

I also had a whistle stop trip to Costco as I had run out of cling film however I was very focussed and my only deviation was some fresh pineapple. I was thinking I may have time to make hubby pineapple upside down pudding tomorrow evening. That would be a treat as we don't normally have desserts during the week.

We had some nice weather this afternoon and tonight which was great although the motorway signs are showing severe rain warnings for Wednesday - honestly you couldn't make it up. I spoke to one of my friends at the weekend who has 3 children, a hubby who works away a lot and no spare cash for holidays this year. She has been trying to occupy her lot and was telling me that they have made a huge pile of handcrafted Christmas cards, gift tags and wrapping paper already because the children haven't been able to get outside much. I gave her a roll of brown paper which was being thrown out at work and they have printed designs using cut potatoes and glitter to use as Christmas wrapping paper - she's astonished at how simple things have kept the children busy. I told her to come look on this website and she would find lots more ideas- most of them cheap, if not free.

Anyway, it's a short visit. I'm off to fold some washing before bed. My mothers washing machine flooded her utility room this morning so got a panicked phone call at work to ask if she could "borrow" mine. I told her just to leave the washing and I would see to it as she had enough to do. I came home to find a mass of soaking wet towels which had been used to mop the flooded floor so despite the good weather I've had them in the tumble dryer so I can get them back to her tomorrow morning. I can see it's going to be another busy week - not a bad thing though, there's nothing worse than idle hands!

[Deleted User]

Hello Everyone, we got back yesterday from a lovely holiday in Sweden and it was such a lovely time, Nell (DD1) and I went to Gothenburg for a week as it was where my Grandma came from and we really enjoyed our time there. It is however really nice to be back home. We have had a really nice weather day, it has been pleasantly warm and dry and we've even had some sun. The garden has grown on so much in a week and we've picked the first tomatoes from the greenhouse today, only 2 ripe 'Sungold' but it is a sign of hope that we shall actually get a harvest this year. DH came back from the allotment with 2 huge bags of Broad Beans which made 3lbs 3oz of actual beans that are now in the freezer. He also harvested 3 roots of first early potatoes which I have cooked and bagged up ready to freeze. I think we may have a blight warning here so we are watching the rest like hawks.

I hope you are all keeping well and families too, it seems that the jetstream is actually moving north so we may get some summer after all, we'll wait to see.

KITTIE - thanks for the info re the dehydrators - it seems a really good idea and I'll save up for an excalibur, it sounds as though it will do the job properly, sorry so long in saying thank you but have only just found time to read threads properly. Cheers Lyn xxx.