Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

milann

Your time in the greenhouse sounds wonderful. I’ve really neglected my garden this year so far. A combination of being on holiday and if I’ve been at home it has mostly rained or been too chilly for me. 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, glad you've got your greenhouse all sorted! I had a big clear out in mine last week, and dismantled the shelves ready to build new ones, but of course I haven't done that, and I had to then just throw everything back in because it got really windy, so now it's a tip again, but a tip without shelves, so even more useless! Gah! 

foxgloves

@milann & @Cheery_Daff - I think the weather has been a big part of the problem tbh. I did get off to a reasonable start & I don't really mind being outdoors gardening in the cold, because I can wrap up, but it felt too cold for sowing my veg containers in March, as I usually do, & the rain has prevented me going out there at all on far too many days. Of course, when one adds in the frosty mornings, that puts pay to weeding & bed-clearing plans too because the ground is frozen. Hopefully we can all really get at it now. Next week's forecast does look better.
F x

foxgloves

Greetings Sunday Savers,
In the garden by 8.30 this morning. Came in for a bacon roll & coffee at 10.00, then straight back out there. A much warmer day. I had a jumper on over my dress & my old gardening leggings tucked into thick hiking socks (Yes, if you are getting Worzel Gummidge images, you'd be about right) but didn't require a coat & felt plenty warm enough.
In terms of money saving, it's really all about growing our own & shopping bits & pieces from home today:
*Mr F opened one of our compost bins & shovelled out 2 big trugfuls for me to use, to save on the expensive bagged stuff.
*Sowed radishes, 2 types of spring onion, rocket & round carrots (all in plastic troughs which come out every year for this purpose & have been a good buy)
*Moved the unused obelisk to the space which needs filling near the new fence. It looks fine & will mean I won't be tempted to buy a new one.
*Sorted out my October-sown sweet-peas which have been hardened off for the last 3 weeks or so. I chose varieties 'Almost black' & 'Watermelon' this time, as thought they'd be a little different from the more usual pastel shades. Delighted to discover I'd got sufficient plants to plant around the main wigwam, as well as some leftover which I will plant & tie-in up the re-sited obeslisk. If they survive ok (naughty beaks), that means I shan't need to buy a climber for it either, so a double 'shopped from home' saving.
* 2 further freebies for planting in the new fence area also rescued (by Mr F) & potted up to bring them on a bit - two nice sturdy hollyhocks which had self-seeded into a narrow gap between 2 paving stones. Once I'd pointed them out & told him that a full-size hollyhocks plant could easily be priced at £8 at the average garden centre, he was utterly determined to winkle them out.....knife, mezza luna.....& finally, brute force as he prised up the paving stone! 
*Started making a little feature in the corner of the bed right up by the conservatory where the new fence begins. Asked Mr F to site a leftover sandstone slab (leftover from our building work last Spring) diagonally across that corner to make more of a feature of our little potted Christmas tree (grown from seed by me years ago). It looks nice, much better than where it was previously & we planted dwarf comfrey around the back & sides of it (the tricolor one) & I intend to divide up & replant some congested snowdrop clumps around the front. Another little project using materials we already have.
*Watered greenhouse babies. 
*Noted that the sorrel & rhubarb will very definitely require cropping this week - free food, no chemicals & food metres rather than miles.
*Fed sourdough jar ready for baking a loaf tomorrow.
It's Mr F's cooking night. He's roasting pork & will be serving it with lots of veg. I only need to pop down to cover the greenhouse babies later on, so intend to read my book & relax.
I'd like a productive week, but am trying not to overdo it as am uncomfortable from a number of issues, having added an abdominal muscle injury to my other woes recently. I'm finding that moving around gently is the best thing. Sitting around for long periods actually makes me feel more uncomfortable. I'm going to achieve my hopefully productive week by mixing up various activities so I have a good mixture of pottering around, sitting, standing, etc. The resident weather-watcher informs me that tomorrow will be dry, so I shall begin with the aim of getting all the week's laundry dried for free.
Hope everyone's managed at least a reasonably decent day. Onwards into a new week with our purses shut, m'dears!
F xx

lucielle

Do you make your own seaweed mix?  

L

foxgloves

Hi @lucielle - No, I buy a commercial one. I prefer the organic one in the brown bottle & have the large size on order, as diluted it goes a long way & should last me all year now. 
I have, however, collected seaweed on a North Yorkshire beach when loads of it had been washed up by the tide. Had a bin liner with me in case this opportunity might arise. Mr F & I hadn't been together very long back then, so I bet when I was squashing my fishy smelling bin bag into the car boot, he was wondering just what kind of nonsense witchy-woo he was shacking up with. When I got it home, I hosed it down (felt it would be too salty), cut it up a bit & added it to our compost bins, as it's very nutritious.
I have regularly made comfrey liquid fertiliser over the years & am resurrecting it this year. The problem is, as you will know if you've ever made it, that it absolutely stinks.....it's like no smell I can describe, but believe me, it is perfectly horrid. It is good stuff though, & again, is diluted at such a rate that a bucket full goes quite a long way. And of course, if you have a comfrey plant in your garden, it is free. because it is just water & a bucket of comfrey.
F

Makingabobor2

Wow, what a productive day you have had. What depth of tub do you use for the round carrots?  I was thinking of trying some of them. Got some normal carrots in, but don't have enough really big tubs for any more.  Been cold here today, so not gardening weather, but the rest of the week is looking good, so hope to get lots done. 

foxgloves

Morning, @Makingabobor2 - I'm only guessing the depths of my troughs because they're down the bottom of the garden & I'm indoors with a coffee & Soot on my lap. I'd guess they're around 25cm deep? I've grown baby beets in them.in the past, so I'm sure they'll be fine for those small round carrot varieties. I've had the troughs for years. I bought them during the Spendy Era..I can well remember going to the garden centre & buying 6 of them, plus a funky brightly coloured wheelbarrow & a whole heap of plants.....all of it straight onto a credit card, of course. To be fair, I have really had my money's worth from the troughs. Have used for strawberries, various salads, baby beets, Pak choi, spring onions, all sorts of things. They do look quite shabby now, but while they are still functional, I'll.keep using them. 
F x

foxgloves

Morning Campers! 
Today's plans are very simple:
*Do all this week's laundry & peg out to dry for free.
*Divide up yesterday's leftover roast pork & assign it to other meals.
*Bake a sourdough loaf.
*Do Monday morning budget updates, followed by my regular mid-month budget check-in.
*Check for surveys.
*Check greenhouse plant babies.
There will probably be some other bits & pieces too, as I go about my day, but I shan't be spending any money.
Right, well I now have both cats sitting on me & they're not going to be at all pleased that I need to move. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they tried to sulk a 2nd breakfast out of the situation, but that's not going to happen.
Let's see if we can all get off to a decent start to the week. My tummy is growling for its breakfast this morning. Unfortunately, as we are doing TRE, it'll have to wait until 10am, but that's over 2 hours of key fat burning time I can get busy with. All moving around is better for burning than sitting, so without further ado, off I go!
F x

Cheery_Daff

Excellent plans Foxgloves! Good luck! I'm impressed your weather is good enough for hanging washing - ours is very damp and drizzly and a bit foggy out there this morning.