Preparedness for when

elona

MrsL

My dds are very bright and hard working but still look impressed when I hand repair a seam or replace buttons etc. The look of respect I got when I tried to darn a fine knit bolero that had developed a hole in it and was a favourite of dds was heartwarming.

Just had a phone call from dds - originally I was planning lunch for 12 .30 to 1ish and got told "Oh No we'll be home by 12!!!" So I dashed around like mad only to get a phone call saying lunch would be better after 12.30 :mad:

Not sure what DH has planted in the garden this year. He has salad leaves which we had yesterday, potatoes and strawberries which are not very far along and other stuff he is not sure will work so looks like an interesting time.

Have about 20 minutes before I have to spring into action so having a browse on here. I went to get more toilet rolls from store and got sidetracked ended up rearranging things so all toilet rolls were together and all cleaning stuff was clearly seperate so now I should be able to find things more easily.

[Deleted User]

ELONA you are a very fine role model, long may it continue and I'll bet your girlies are the first to have a go and see if they can do it too, yes? Mine have the skills they need to do most things, the eldest one is so OS it beggars belief, the younger one has all the skills and chooses to use most but not all, she lives her own life, but I know she could be OS if she felt the need to. Gardening this year will be a bit of a roller coaster ride I think, ours is going along fairly well but we're late because it has been so cold and I wonder if we shall get enough ripening time to see the crops to maturity, we'll see. Have a lovely day with your DDs and enjoy the company and the suhshine, Cheers Lyn xxx.

ginnyknit

I am fighting the slugs again but they will not win :mad: went out twice last night with my torch and my Kosher salt - thought it may work better as its supposed to be really good salt and religious too. I have some huge courgette plants and they are my pride and joy. Japanese onions are coming up well too and thanks to Annie I have a raspberry patch that is full of flowers :j

I am the only person on the estate who grows her own apart from sort of friends over the road who have a wonderous allotment and rarely shop. I just keep going and looking at my little apple tree's full of blossom and smiling to myself - doesnt take much to please me.

Been up since 5 as something woke DGS and we had to snuggle under a blanket for an hour till he felt like getting up. I may be else where the rest of the afternoon - that is I may be where I left my last brain cell which got a lie in

pineapple

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

the local secondary school had,woodwork, home repairs, gardening and beekeeping for the boys and homemaking, needlework, cookery and childcare for the girls as part of thier everyday education.

My that's impressive - if a tad pigeon-holing. Not every girl wants to get up close and personal with a sewing machine and not every guy wants to run amok with a Black and Decker :eek:.
But yes I'm all for 'real' education - things we encounter in real life like budgeting, bank accounts, loans, tax, basic repairs, meals, nutrition. A radical notion I know... :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

I am talking a long time ago here!!! I mean late 50s when it was the norm for boys to be taught separate areas from girls. Nowadays I would advocate all young people being taught equally and there is really no reason why wives shouldn't do the house repairs and husbands do the cooking, BUT I would think it very useful that they ALL be taught useful life skills to the full right here, right now to enable them to have better lives in the long run, Cheers Lyn xxx.

nuatha

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I think gardens for food will become a necessity not a choice if the price of things keeps escalating at the current rate. I think the problem at the moment is younger people aren't used to gardens being cultivated for food, it hasn't been the norm for a couple of generations now and they don't have the skills or confidence perhaps to try veg gardening on thier own. When I was a young'un and at senior school the local secondary school had,woodwork, home repairs, gardening and beekeeping for the boys and homemaking, needlework, cookery and childcare for the girls as part of thier everyday education. All things like that went out of the window with the introduction of comprehensive education, just not enough time for it all in the school day any more,I personally think the skills are a loss to society and people would fare much better if they were taught how to make and mend and provide for thier families. Maybe in the fullness of time necessity will reintroduce the teaching of life skills too, who knows?

When my father was at school he had basketry, woodwork, pottery, woodwork and gardening in lessons. All of which were geared to practical outcomes. The gardening lessons included growing tobacco which the girls were taught to roll into cigars.
Growing food was the general practice as I was growing up, it was generally the older retired folk who had ornamental gardens - and grand children delivering home grown veg. In my thirties the same are had very few vegetable gardens, yet most of the families hadn't changed.
I've always regard growing edibles as the norm - but looking around it really isn't.

pineapple wrote: »

My that's impressive - if a tad pigeon-holing. Not every girl wants to get up close and personal with a sewing machine and not every guy wants to run amok with a Black and Decker :eek:.
But yes I'm all for 'real' education - things we encounter in real life like budgeting, bank accounts, loans, tax, basic repairs, meals, nutrition. A radical notion I know... :rotfl:

In primary school (the same school my father attended) I learned to embroider, basic basketry, basic hand sewing (I'm male). Woodwork and metal work were a male only environment at middle school and high school, though engineering drawing was both girls and boys.
When I was in high school it took the threat of a court case to allow one male pupil to do cookery classes.
Teaching people to cope in the modern world (and to think for themselves) could be the end of society as we know it - the sooner it happens the better in my book.

[Deleted User]

I'll second and third that as a sentiment NUATHA!

The_Dragon

Well said Nuatha!

Mojoworking

Hi All, well I've continued to read and read from this thread and although my preferred learning method is to be shown something - I took the plunge and I have a "flower bed" (being generous) it runs down the side of the garden and had about 12 6 foot conifers in it that was a hedge. We pulled these out about 2 years ago and have done nothing. So when in the pound shop I brought some onions and some strawberries. I just threw them in last bank holiday and stuff is now growing!!!!

On the back of that success (a.k.a fluke - the truth is I've not been back there since - luckily we've had a bit of rain) I got some pound shop courgette seeds around the same time and thought - in for a penny in for a pound and sort of raked off all the stones and dug it over (I didn't have a clue but thought it looked the right thing to do) and luckily a neighbour poked their head over and told me how far apart to plant them I would've done it well too close and gave me a tomato plant as well - how lucky?

I have tried reading books about gardening but I just don't get it.

I've thrown some broad bean and runner bean seeds next to 6 canes along the fence - although they are only the little canes so I guess I'll have to go buy bigger canes but for £4 well I've lost nothing really.

It is hard to know where to start so thanks for the inspiration x

[Deleted User]

Wow MOJO hats off to you for giving the veg gardening a go, it sounds as though you've cracked it!!! If there were trees in your patch before the veg plants it might be worth giving them the occasional feed, a liquid feed or all purpose fertilizer sprinkled round a couple of times in the season should do it and keep them watered as often as you can and they should grow on well for you. You might try some lettuce and radishes too as they are good natured and almost grow themselves. When the veg is over at the end of the summer it would pay you to get some soil improver/horse manure and dig it in to improve the soil for next year and then your Uncle Robert is the Mollusc of your Choice!!! off you go as a fully fledged veg grower, well done for taking the plunge, Cheers Lyn xxx. If your runner beans grow well you can tie some strong twine round the cane and fix it to the top of the fence for them to grow up, save yourself a little cash that way.