THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

thriftwizard

HTH.

Certainly does, thank you! I will go down to the micro-brewery & ask; nothing ventured, nothing gained. They wouldn't be able to access our site as it's in private ownership & The Family are very worried about the possibility of The Wrong People (i.e. anyone who isn't paying them rent) gaining access; however I have a van, if I can find something suitable to transport any available grains in. I'm already supplying my fellow plot-holders with daggy fleece...

DigForVictory

thriftwizard wrote: »

ask; nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And how! We did learn from our mother - the council were trimming back some trees, and somewhat to our surprise, she pulled over. Had a brief chat with the power tool wielders & a courtly gesture from a gauntlet-ed mitt indicated she could have her pick of the branches - she had vases of stickybuds opening in nearly every room!

My lads are learning the same "eh?, ah.." tolerance as I pull up sharply beside trees being felled and asking if I can have a log or three for my husband to turn. Driving a Mondeo helps hugely there, but so does the asking.

In my capacities as school governor and scout leader, I have acquired boxes of brand new ring binders - given away as the company's name had been misspelled, rolls of cellophane (Interflora change the mandatory rolls each quarter and those are easily coaxed off the bored florist for a Good Cause) and passed the good word about free coffee grounds from Waitrose (& also Starbucks I -think-) to gardening enthusiasts.

It doesn't cost anything to ask, & many people will be generous with information.

GreyQueen

I'm very much a believer in screwing my brass neck into place and just asking for stuff. They can only say no, not likely to call the Police on you, hey?


I'm not cute but I am (I'm told) quite charming, and once persuaded some shop fitters putting a new fascia on a mobble fone shop to allow me to toddle off with a vast amount of bubble-wrap and humungous amounts of really strong brown wrapping paper (the elements of the plastic fascia came wrapped in those).


Bubble and brown paper, thought I'd died and gone to heaven, lol.

Cheapskate

Morning folks, been away on holiday and had no internet for almost a fortnight, due to a major V!rg!n fault - been an absolute nightmare! Couldn't finish a job application (everything's online these days), had to go across town to our son's to check in for said holiday, and DH and I used up all our phone data doing essential banking and work-related things. Very glad I have a phone deal that allows me to access my monthly package early, if need be! Internet and crackly phone line finally sorted - all due to what's essentially a big, chunky fuse under the floorboards - just gathering myself to have a Big Talk with the firm re a much better deal and compensation - will need some time and a few brews, methinks! :rotfl:

A friend up the road offered some "bits of wood" for our stove yesterday, so DH drove up (so he could just chuck it all in and have one trip, rather than walking up and down all night) - turns out they're basically a few half tree trunks!! He'll have to get friend's hubby to help him cart them down, or saw into bits in situ - we have a big estate car and they won't even go in there as is! Very nice of her to give them to us, though, don't mind the work involved, but DH was grumbling...

I'm trying to spend as little as possible, as we slightly overspent on holiday, so the children are back to proper pack ups for their lunches. I've bought them food flasks, so we've ringed the changes from sarnies and salad to leftovers re-heated and potted up (eg, soup, pasta, HM pot noodles etc). Been baking like a mad thing, as we're not buying biccies etc, and wading through the contents of the freezer before restocking for the autumn and winter.

I have a couple of friends who run little cafes that I'm going to ask about having some tea/coffee grounds now and then to feed my poorly-looking garden, to improve the soil for next year, as I'd like to get back to some food production. I'm also hoping to start sharing an allotment with one of said cafe-owners, as it's too much for her and the waiting lists around here are ridiculous!

MrsLW, glad to see your move went swimmingly, enjoy exploring your new town and making new friends!

A xo

mardatha

What exactly does tea leaves and coffee grounds do for a garden?

DigForVictory

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm very much a believer in screwing my brass neck into place and just asking for stuff.

Intrigued by the etymology (where does that come from?), I found that "brass neck" implies the owner doesn't realise their conduct is less than exemplary

informal disapproving. a type of behaviour where someone is extremely confident about their own actions but does not understand that their behaviour is unacceptable to others

I cheerfully beg to differ - or use different language to describe the same appeal to human nature. Impudence, persuasion, cheek - all good innocent fun.

If I'm certain what I'm asking for is wrong (you couldn't fell me that oak-in-a-public-park, could you?) I don't do it. If however, the tree is being felled & I just want a bit of it for a good reason and those doing the job have no vested interest in the outcome - I don't see that asking is wrong - I'm helping them minimise what they might otherwise have to dispose of & worse even pay to dispose of.

My sons, observing, curl up like slugs under salt attack, however. Poor fragile creatures!

Affordable brown paper has really faded from the scene, alas, which is why I so enjoy my trips to IKEA. There, they provide massive rolls of the stuff, *and* reams of A3 packing paper. I have made four tealights into a package I could sit on, thanks to them, which made Christmas that year a much squisher and more generous-seeming year... Still festive, as I potato printed green & red holly, trees & baubles onto said brown paper, but my eco-enthusiast relatives were touched I'd put the effort in. And it is provided free & gratis by the store, so no brass neck involved until you start wrapping offspring wholesale.

Bubblewrap I hoard & give carefully chopped down piece to colleagues when the going gets tough. (First aiders may not dispense drugs, just help others take their prescription stuff, but a 10cm square helps most ailments!)

DigForVictory

mardatha - I went & googled it.
Two opinions!
James Wong

One of the key functions of caffeine in the plants that produce it is allelopathy – the ability to reduce competition from surrounding species by suppressing their growth. Caffeine is packed into coffee seeds for the very function of suppressing the germination of other seeds.

There is a stack of studies to suggest it also stalls root growth in young plants, preventing their uptake of water and nutrients. Yet others have shown it has antibacterial effects (so much for boosting soil bacteria). And guess what? It isn’t even always very acidic. OK, its effects have varied widely depending on plant species, but it’s never shown colossal benefits that could outweigh the risks.

and the predictable

The benefit of using coffee grounds as a fertilizer is that it adds organic material to the soil, which improves drainage, water retention and aeration in the soil

So maybe as a weed suppressant & in the compost? Also I'd hope it might discourage certain slugs & snails.

Tea leaves a whole separate science...

NewShadow

DigForVictory wrote: »

Intrigued by the etymology (where does that come from?), I found that "brass neck" implies the owner doesn't realise their conduct is less than exemplary

I would guess the difference is saying it about yourself rather than other's saying it about you - The depreciation of self in British physiology.

GQ has the confidence to ask for something when other's might see the same behaviour as overly forward or rude - she's not doing anything wrong and is, almost certainly, not pushy or entitled about her requests - but someone more 'conformist' might be scandalised that she's asking for 'freebees' and, to that person, she'd be behaving unacceptably.

Personally I do the same - toddle over with a smile and ask 'would you mind...' and if they say no then I thank them, smile and toddle off again.

Ex-MIL was disgusted by my 'cheek', but then... that just added to the delight of doing it in front of her :D

pineapple

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm very much a believer in screwing my brass neck into place and just asking for stuff. They can only say no, not likely to call the Police on you, hey?


I'm not cute but I am (I'm told) quite charming, and once persuaded some shop fitters putting a new fascia on a mobble fone shop to allow me to toddle off with a vast amount of bubble-wrap and humungous amounts of really strong brown wrapping paper (the elements of the plastic fascia came wrapped in those).


Bubble and brown paper, thought I'd died and gone to heaven, lol.

Good for you GQ. I'm getting better at asking in my old age. When we had the floods a couple of years back and trees etc were left washed up on the village green, I asked a local farmer if he could bring up a huge split log on his quad bike. It is now a splendiferous planter on ye olde patio. Cost me a few beers though

thriftwizard

It's amazing what you can pick up for just the pain of "screwing my brass neck into place and just asking" - pallets are my current favourite! Businesses often have to pay to dispose of them & are very glad for someone to take them away for free; all our allotment composters are pallet-built, the Gumtree-freebie "firewood" shed is held together by pallets inside, which double up as tool racks, and there's a huge pile of kindling for this winter that mostly came from unwanted pallets. When we need some wood, I just cruise around the industrial estate & knock on doors. Sometimes they are being returned, usually the colour-stained ones, but no-one's ever appeared put out at being asked!