THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Cappella

Well done Bob - that’s really positive news

Thanks MissusP and Pineapple One pan dishes and stir fries are now on the menu. Not sure why my brain seemed to freeze this week when it came to ideas, but I’m very glad you prompted me

Our apple trees are still in very tight bud, but I’ve seen a fair few bumble bees about. Our honey bees are not moving much yet though. We have had a few sunny days but it is still very chilly and the soil is still cold. I am also concerned that it is going to be poor germination and a poor harvest if the weather does not pick up a bit..

GreyQueen

Decided to flit up to my allotments this evening after all, spent a bit of time gently pottering, getting some rubbish off there.

Bumblers are flying tonight back of 7 pm and at about 12 c, only tree bumblers and buff-tails tonight, have seen those gingery-coloured ones last weekend, common carder bees. Haven't seen a single red-tailed bumbler this year and they're normally as common as dirt. Worried about their lack.

Have been gathering up dandelion clocks. I transplanted some dandelions over the winter into a row. Some took, some didn't. I shall be sowing the seeds into a drill and aiming to have dandelion leaves easily available rather than foraging for them in random corners of the plot.

I shall dead-head them once they've finished flowering so they don't shed seeds all over and become a nuisance. Dandelion leaves are much more nutritious than lettuce and easier to grow (no bolting and pests barely bother with them). Plus taste better and the bees and other insects love their flowers.

Bumblers are working away in the bean patches and the nearby lilac bush and fruit bushes are coming out, and there's more fodder every day. I still won't disturb the red dead nettles until they finish, such an important food source and rather attractive, too.

[Deleted User]

We've had a lovely day down here wall to wall sunshine and blissful warmth. When I walked with Cookie this afternoon we came across the public area by the river and it was covered in daisies, buttercups, dandelions and the odd patch of bluebells under the trees that are the perimeter, utterly breath taking. I could hear bees, and saw some massive bumbles but no honey bees visible yet. He Who Knows saw some house martins (he thinks) gathering mud from a puddle but as of yet I've seen neither swifts nor swallows both species are incredibly late this year and I wonder if the cold on the continent has meant not enough insect life available for them to complete their migration. I continue to hope and that the bees can make up the earlier absence and get the pollination jobs done in time before the blossom becomes non-viable.

[Deleted User]

I've been so preoccupied with my hospital appointment, I almost forgot to vote.

thriftwizard

Well done, Bob, that's brilliant news!

Our apples are in full blossom now, from the 100+ year-old Blenheim Orange to the brand new "Golden Hornet" crab apple, and at last we've seen a few bees. Including a honeybee, which we had to spend an energetic 10 minutes ejecting from the conservatory before the resident spiders could pounce on it. The pear bloomed last week; DD2 gave it to OH for his birthday last year as he adores pears, but I think he'll probably have to wait until next year for them as it was so perishing cold! And I suspect the plums will be a write-off.

I've been very slow to start veg seeds for the allotment; it's been so cold, and my little greenhouse has become overshadowed by a transplanted bamboo. That'll be this weekend's task, along with weeding!

mardatha

Wow thriftwizard, up here there are no trees in leaf nevermind in bloom!

ivyleaf

That's brilliant news, Bob! I wish my OH was so careful about his diabetes. He was diagnosed around the same time as Mar's RV, but has become "disengaged" from it and isn't at all careful with his diet. He's on 3 different tablets already and has his annual review next week, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he's told he needs to go onto insulin, and it will be entirely his own fault I've suggested we both go on a low carb diet but he's not happy with the idea of no bread, potatoes, etc.

Re: bumblebees - I was quite excited a few years ago when we visited friends living on the coast in the NE, and saw red-tailed bumblebees. We never get them in our suburban London garden, though we do get buff-tailed ones.

[Deleted User]

ivyleaf wrote: »

I've suggested we both go on a low carb diet but he's not happy with the idea of no bread, potatoes, etc.

My diabetic nurse advised me to eat bread (wholegrain) and potatoes, a couple of times a week. Also fruit.

I'm even allowed the odd can of lager or two, or a couple of shorts (using sugar free mixers of course ), once in a while.

GreyQueen

The red-tailed are called the early bumble bee and they've always been so common here, the commonest of the big six bumblers. I've seen them flying (well, the queens) flying in mid January and they've normally finished their nest by June. This year I've not seen a single one of them, and I do check any droning bee to see if which bumbler it is.

Have seen a tree-bumbler queen foraging, and there seems to be a buff-tail nesting under my cold frame (a couple of years ago it was stuffed up the back on the plot and not in use and a tree bumble bee nest was inside it, they must've had a lovely time in the warm). I've also had red-tails nest on the plot, one time they were in an old mouse burrow.

My plot is rich with insect feeding opportunities atm because I have autumn-sown broad beans in flower, plus the fallow ground is under red nettles, white nettles and there are dandelions all over the place. I dead-head them most days but love both their leaves (salad) and their flowers (aesthetics, although they are edible), and the bees go mad for all those plants. There are also the unspectacular (to humans) flowers on the fruit bushes and nearby plots have apple trees and a big lilac is just starting to flower.

Mardatha, most of the trees have suddenly leafed in the past two weeks, it's looking distinctly summery here. They're not all full out, of course, but enough to see a sea of fresh green everywhere, and the bluebells are flowering. I do love the Merry Month of May.

Perplexed_Pineapple

Evening all. I found this and thought mathematically minded peeps here might be interested:
https://medium.com/s/story/the-surprisingly-solid-mathematical-case-of-the-tin-foil-hat-gun-prepper-15fce7d10437