The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

ivyleaf

Monnagran I rather like sloths They may not move very fast. but they always look as if they're smiling!

And dormice are little and cute, and so is mar (at least, I always think of you as being little. Perhaps you're not?)

mardatha

Yes I'm 5ft. Almost microscopic. But nobody has ever told me I'm cute...

camelot1001

I quite like growing things in my little garden but apart from carrots and pots there isn't enough for more than one serving of anything. I think I need a set up like Mrs LWs to make it cost effective.

I hope you have made a start on that boat monna, summer will soon be here!

monnagran

Mar: I think you're cute.

Camelot: you'll be glad to know that the bottom of the boat is now a glorious red. Such a pity that it will spend most of its life under water but such is a sailors life.

Ivy: your comment about sloths reminds me of a comment my PE teacher put on my report. She wrote, "Joy moves very slowly." She was right and I was never allowed to forget it.
Slow but smiley, that's me.

Such a wonderful day today that we all went to the next bay along and had lunch in the Wonky Cafe. That really is its name and its simple and lovely. We sat outside by the beach and had a very tasty lunch. A charity had a tombola table there so we gave the children some money to buy tickets. DGS14 bought 5 tickets and won 4 prizes.
I must let him have a go at picking lottery numbers.

Bless his heart, he gave two of his prizes to his little sister, who attracts the same amount of luck as I do, and kept some hair oil and an Easter egg for himself.

He is so proud of his boat, I caught him giving it a kiss! Autistic or not, I think he is wonderful.

x

ivyleaf

Aww Monna, that's so sweet that he gave the boat a kiss :A

Softstuff

greenbee wrote: »

I'm thinking of colour washing the same colour as the walls but dilute enough for the grain to show, which is what I have always done with new boards. I'd be interested to know how you get the lined oak effect too - I have a lot more house to do, although I'm going to have to let the builder do most of it as I simply don't seem to get round to doing stuff myself.

I brush the wood first with a wire brush and open the grain up a little. Then brush on and wipe off a solution of one part white paint to 3 parts water. When that's dry I brush on and wipe off a solution of artists glaze medium with a squirt of burnt umber. Then I clear coat it. I like the colour myself.

Manny Ramirez (not sure where the tablet gets this from, I'm going to have to whip it into shape soon), maybe you could try homebrewing? Give you something to drink while you tell someone else where to dig. Love your DGS boat smooching.

Mardatha, I've don't think I've saved much money by gardening, but we've eaten a lot of it and I cook with more herbs now. Next year we will probably start to save money, but that's because we do eat a lot of veg that will grow here.and can base a meal around it.... we especially like the greens :eek:

Floss

Softstuff when do you arrive in Blighty and for how long? Are we all still on for a mini-meet in Blackpool on 25 of this month? I had better suss out where to actually meet up

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm not convinced I save much money by gardening. More likely - that's some downright expensive veg. I'm getting. Mind you - in my case I am having to spend lots of money:eek::( ensuring my garden is capable of growing food in the first place one way or another (courtesy of it being an Old Lady concrete garden to start with - so all the Old Lady shrubs etc that literally meant there wasnt a single square inch of soil for me to grow my food in has now gone and plenty of available soil). I'm going to have spend loads more to get it fully up and running in all respects:eek::(.

But - to me it's worth it because I buy organic products as far as possible anyway (ie that organic price premium). Add the fact that food starts losing its nutrients as soon as it's removed from the soil and I recall noticing statement about one particular vegetable the other day somewhere - in which it stated that it had lost 50% of its nutrients only 24 hours after being harvested!

At least growing my own food as far as possible means I know that I've just harvested my food seconds before I wish to start preparing it - and I'm getting all my vitamins/minerals/etc I should be getting from it.

Add the fact that I'm working on the basis of feeding and feeding my soil in any way I can manage (rock dust ...the lot) and it's not some devitalised old dirt that has had many previous harvests taken from it without any "goodness" much put back into it...and I think that has to be the "way to go" personally. Even if it is costing me a lot personally....

Admits that I would have loved to have taken over a garden from a keen organic gardener that had already got it all laid out properly/soil well-nourished, etc and then I could be doing this so much more cheaply. In those sort of circumstances - I can well imagine it would be possible to save money by growing food. Oh well - it is what it is....

Floss

MITTTM just think of the outlay as investment. I have spent a lot on my allotment plot, but we save a fortune on the fresh fruit & veg & herbs that we harvest.

moneyistooshorttomention

Floss wrote: »

MITTTM just think of the outlay as investment. I have spent a lot on my allotment plot, but we save a fortune on the fresh fruit & veg & herbs that we harvest.

I am Floss:rotfl: Speculate to accummulate and all that.

There's also the convenience factor of some element of not having to think what vegetables I have to buy so much and, at some point, not having to buy many veggies at all. I'm getting into the idea already of "First think what I've got available and ready in the garden - and then wonder if I need to buy food from a shop to top it up".

The other advantage I see is that I'm able to get more exotic type stuff that I cant manage to find at all - even at a Farmers Market. Sorrel is a particular favourite of mine for instance - and I don't think I've ever seen that for sale anywhere.