Daydream thread continues.....

rhiwfield

Rummer wrote: »

:j I am glad you think so as my OH just laughed!

Mind you I do agree that I need to get working this year and I think that I have been on the right path all along. Raised beds, cold frame and greenhouse with extra hedging to provide shelter all seem sensible decisions.

Next year I am going to work on increasing our compost production and water storage as well as using things to hand for feed like our endless nettles.

Attracting bees and other beneficial insects is also going to be a priority for us as last year we saw worryingly few. I know this is a national/global issue however we are going to do what we can through planting and other (as yet unknown) approaches.

Need to repair our main water storage as one of the butts collapsed due to a weak point in the base. We're ok for hedge shelter, raised beds and composting, might consider a cold frame. I think I might also try looking at different varieties that can cope better with rain, wind and fungal diseases.

One other thing is to consider hand pollination of our fruit trees if we get cold weather at the time bees should be pollinating as happened this year.

Increasingly I see above inflation food price increases ahead so food (that we cant produce in our gardens/smallholdings)
may become a bigger part of our spend, just as energy/fuel has become. Which means that we either have to give up something or earn more

choille

Still raining here & gusty.

The water runs off if it can but it is all rather boggy & squelchy. been that way for a few months of course.

There's some woodland that was planted as a tax loss near here & next to a rather bad bit of the road. The trees near the edge are leaning & there's loads down & some propped against others. It's all very dangerous. Pines are quite shallow rooted, with all the wet & now the gales it can get a bit like dominoes. But these land owners who took all the grants to plant them should be compelled to maintain them as it's all a bit disasterous looking.

Not done nowt as it's all rocking in the van at the mo

Davesnave

choille wrote: »

But these land owners who took all the grants to plant them should be compelled to maintain them as it's all a bit disasterous looking.

We stopped by a woodland in Dorset to have a sandwich last Tuesday. Looking at the copse across the road, I soon decided it hadn't been maintained for many a year, but what worried me was one tree leaning at about 20-30 degrees from vertical, covered in ivy and tall enough to hit the B class road if it fell.

If that tree were mine, I'd be scared stiff someone would be killed under it one wild night.

Polytunnels: definitely side ventilation needed, which means side rails, which = extra cost. But I'd rather have one I can work in than one that becomes a no-go area in the sunshine, even if it means going smaller to compensate.

That one on ebay seems to have no base rails or doors, unless you buy them yourself.

Always bargain hard with the sellers. At a rough estimate you should get 10% at least off what they quote. I got free sliding doors worth £200 and a few other things rather than cash discount.

Itismehonest

Don't mention nuisance trees at risk of falling.
We had all dodgy trees on our land removed but can't get the Nutty Truss to do anything with the ones on their land. Usual story - they can always find the money to buy somewhere but never to maintain it properly. Their feet won't touch the floor if one of 'their' trees come down through our rooves. :mad:
Apparently restriction of light is no longer a reason for them to remove an offending tree, either. Grrrrrr.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

this has happened on the top road in our village, when we were looking to buy a house, we looked at one near there,

also a huge land slide happened there in the 60's/70's .

everyone has been saying it will happen again, but the council have been saying it is safe, this small one could be a warning to what could happen again








and the council are nowhere to be seen, except a sign to say the road is closed:mad:

COOLTRIKERCHICK

davesnave

thanks for the thoughts on the polytunnel... who did you use?

Itismehonest

:eek: That landslide is big enough. Is that a container that's slid down the hill, CTC?

Looks like we're in for another night water-watching
The rain eased off for most of the day which allowed some of the lakes to shrink but it's due back with a vengeance during the early evening. We'll be taking turns at duty watches throughout the hours of darkness. All the digging paid off but, being spring water (which can run for days & days while the table is high), there's no guarantee the trenches will hold up under the force of more heavy downpours.
The other thing is that high winds (due those, too) also make the artesian water flow much faster _pale_

Just had a large group of Italians walk up the lane (not bad going as most Brits can't find us :rotfl:) & ask if we needed any help to clear all the water. Thought that was really sweet of them & so typical. I doubt it would occur to most young Brits to offer.

I hope everyone else is OK. Don't travel unless you have to.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

yes, an entrance to a farm on top of the mountain was there, so he had a steel container and his transit van parked down there,,( you can just see the white blob transit, behind one of the trees) so he is not going to be able to get access to his farm:eek::eek::eek:

19th december 1965 there was a huge landslide, since then the houses along that road, were un-mortgageable... up until a few years ago.

The mountains has pipes put in to take the water away, I just found out that about 3 weeks ago the council were informed that one of the pipes were broke,

http://www.familytreecircles.com/transcript-from-south-wales-evening-post-20-dec-1965-landslide-flattens-house-47245.html

i would be suprised if another part of the mountain goes

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

davesnave

thanks for the thoughts on the polytunnel... who did you use?

I used First Tunnels.
http://www.firsttunnels.co.uk/?gclid=CPGOtNmTsbQCFWbKtAodsGQAbA

The very best ones are probably Northern Polytunnels. I decided we couldn't stretch to one of those!

I go here for ends of rolls and other stuff that's polytunnel related:

http://www.ferryman-polytunnels.co.uk/

They're just down the road.:)

Many of the parts the various companies use are generic.

I like First Tunnels because you can ring them and speak directly to an engineer, not some office wallah who doesn't know what you are talking about. I had to phone First Tunnels a few times. Not everything in their fairly comprehensive manual is 100% clear, or correct!

Remember, all tunnels over 14' wide (any length) need planning permission. Probably not a problem, but it adds to the cost a little.

Davesnave

As we've had some water on the barn floor again, I spent a bit of time investigating the slope and ditch behind it today. There's a blue, unperforated pipe buried there, which suddenly goes uphill at one end, turns the corner and then goes downhill, following the yellow soakaway pipe carrying water from the roof.

I have no idea where these pipes terminate yet, but I know that the blue pipe cannot be doing much, if anything! Meanwhile, below the blue pipe, in the channel I've dug along the back of the barn, a fair amoount of water has collected. It will be interesting to see what happens when it rains again tonight.

I can't understand why the people who built the barn didn't think about drainage. They built some rubbishy small barns and remembered it then. :mad:

At the moment I think I'll have to either build a French drain type of thing behind the barn, or raise the floor level by around 6cm in the rear part of the barn. Getting the levels right for the drain won't be easy, but a drain will be cheaper than concrete, probably.

OTOH, bit of form work, concrete lorry, whoosh, tamp, tamp, tamp and Bob's your uncle, job done! Decisions! :think: