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Goddamn loving the rain today. I'm sure the feeling will fade quickly but currently it's just a pleasure to be out in. Very fresh. Sorry about your window but glad you found perspective on it later 
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Aug 9, 2018 15:40
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I can somehow smell this through the screen.
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Aug 9, 2018 15:47
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DesperateDan posted:While I went around picking I killed a bunch of hogweed cropping up- its sap can be really nasty so I tend to get rid of it in areas people frequent- plus it makes a satisfying sound when I slash it down with a knife. Ugh, hogweed. There was a load in my dad's garden a few years back when I was strimming the lot back, and whil i was wearing trousers, gloves, facemask, etc I forgot to wear long sleeves. I thoroughly regretted this choice and I have learned. Itched for weeks.
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Aug 9, 2018 20:20
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Maugrim posted:Goddamn loving the rain today.. The place has that kind of effect most of the time Jaded Burnout posted:I can somehow smell this through the screen. It didnt actually smell much- think its badger as its mainly fruit from the look of it, and it doesnt look like deer poop. Fox and cat poops are the stinkers Brovine posted:Ugh, hogweed... It has really nasty effects but its not too invasive if you can deal with the flowering heads before they get all seedy- I like to leave them alone in other places because the insects love em. 8E0 837 462B    Well the car needed a part and I needed not to pay labour charges so if I have to look at the insides of a car door for a bit so can you.   While I give it the finger lots, its the third kind of car door I ever had to gently caress with and by far my favourite- it all went apart and all came back together without issues and I only had 3 bits left over. There were a lot of bits though.   The old one was really hosed- cable had rusted away on one end and spooled up inside the regulator.     I had to take everything out of the door including the window motor and speaker, and haul the entire top section of the door off to get to the broken regulator properly.  Luckily the motor didnt get chewed up much at all, seems to work fine and it all took a touch over 2 hours start to finish- the guide I followed said 5. Will probably have to do the passenger side soon enough. I forgot a finished pic, but the door looked factory perfect again, honest- double sided foam tape is magical   The poppies I have in the garden have loads of seed pods stacked with seeds- gonna harvest them and dry them for next spring. Field sometime again in the next few days- maybe tomorrow morning but will be up that end a few times over the next week if not.
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Aug 11, 2018 16:28
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wham, bam, thankyou jam Our little friend anticipated snackages. I did not disappoint.   I dunno if I named this spider who lives in the caravan yet but she's been with us awhile and seems to have won the spider thunderdome at the front end so say hi to Cass she likes eating and hiding behind things- I feel a deep kinship.    Weather looked a bit crap as I came down, so I got the kettle on and dug out some emergency noodles. Only a year or so out of date! By the time I had done my rounds to let it sit and cool, it was nice enough again to sit outside to eat- drat fine noodles.    Good weather for hot chocolate too, slightly more out of date than the noodles but idgaf come at me horlicks you malty mutha   Pond still too wet to dig easy and I'm not down for that today anyway   The brambles hold lots of fruit too but beyond a few handfuls that went direct to mouth, I wasn't down to pick much either           I mainly just came to wander around a bit today and I'm glad I did, because it brightened up a bit and let me have a think about what and where and when and how and such.   Last few days saw a lot of this- elderberries are all around my house, and come spring I'm hoping for some good cuttings for the field- best to take them then apparently. These will go to jam this year, but eventually I want to do wine- need lots for that though.   I did feel the need to do at least one constructive thing and lazily slapped some fence/shed treatment stuff on the more weathered parts of the bench. Its a good bench, and deserves better but for now it will do.   We only have a small freezer and its about half full right now with frozen handpicked fruit- something must be done or I wont have easy access to oven chips and oh god no-one wants to see what happens to me in that scenario.   So while I was off wandering the woods my wife knocked out some jam/jelly   It's very good, and the next batch I intend on being around to act as apprentice and will get some pictures of the process itself More again soon when I go again- have plans to raid some crabapple trees in the next day or so for more jam based mischief
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Aug 15, 2018 17:06
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DesperateDan posted:So while I was off wandering the woods my wife knocked out some jam/jelly Can I ask for your wife's jam recipe? Have been making small batches of foraged blackberry \ strawberry but they've not been great (way too solid, for one).
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Aug 15, 2018 19:43
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Good spider Good pond Good wife
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Aug 15, 2018 21:23
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Aww man is that TWO different kinds of bees?  Also, I don't mean to rain on your parade but I hope those jars are going into the fridge soon. Reusing lids like that makes it harder to guarantee an airtight seal, which you need to prevent spoilage and harmful bacteria. Not saying you're definitely going to get food poisoning and die, but better safe than sorry, you know? There's a thread for making jams, jellies, pickles, and stuff like that in GWS if you're interested in learning about the process.
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Aug 16, 2018 07:48
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I have a spider friend who lives in my hibiscus and eats all the spider mites that try to eat my plant. I have named her Miss Pettigrew, because she is very fancy. Good to see you are a spider friend as well OP.
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Aug 16, 2018 12:43
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spookygonk posted:Can I ask for your wife's jam recipe? Have been making small batches of foraged blackberry \ strawberry but they've not been great (way too solid, for one). Will do the whole thing step by step there's no real secret to it though- the main thing seems to be reaching the proper temperatures and doing tests to see if it's ready. Suspect Bucket posted:Good spider Thankyou! I'm more than happy to accept praise on their behalf! I might even pass it on! Bees on Wheat posted:Aww man is that TWO different kinds of bees? One's a type of hoverfly in disguise as a bee, but I think I have gotten snaps of about a half dozen or so different varieties of bees living there- getting a decent shot of more than one at once is hard and I really need to take down a non-phone camera at some point. It rains a lot on my parade so I just tend to keep a hat handy I wouldn't use the same technique for anything other than jam- the lids certainly aren't airtight by themselves- for initial long term storage the jam gets a waxed paper disc directly on top of the jam, then a thick cellophane wrap goes underneath the lid, which then gets screwed on tight over the top of the wrap- we haven't had a single one go bad in about 5 years... yet. But jam is far easier to avoid contamination with so for just about everything else (probably just some pasta sauce this year), we will be using mason jars and strict rules as discussed in the excellent thread you linked friendbot2000 posted:I have a spider friend who lives in my hibiscus and eats all the spider mites that try to eat my plant. I have named her Miss Pettigrew, because she is very fancy. I used to be really quite phobic but over time things got more chill and I can bring myself to handle even reasonably big 'piders for short periods (like scooping them away from the cat and dumping them out the nearest window while making a face). Cass does a great job of making sure the caravan is free of mosquitos and moths, so she stays Bit of a prisoner to the weather right now- quite steady rain over the last day or two and that makes digging the pond or cutting new areas far more of a chore. Current plan for the next trip is to get the caravan ready for some quite urgent repair work, and bring down some more BBQ building supplies.
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Aug 16, 2018 14:56
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I had a dream that my husband and I owned a caravan, and it must be due to this thread. Cleaning it up and repainting and going on trips was really fun, until I woke up and realized none of that ever happened.  Give a little fistbump to your spiderbro for me next time you see her.
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Aug 17, 2018 03:13
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Bees on Wheat posted:Give a little fistbump to your spiderbro for me next time you see her. I will Caravan stuff always appealed- many childhood holidays were in a series of caravans, one very similar to the one I have now, some great memories  Haven't been down there in over a week at the moment so I'm headed there tomorrow to at least just do the rounds and make sure all is well- just been far too busy on the homefront this week  Hicks's newest test results aren't great but are still better than expected and more importantly he has been really happy and himself.   Originally the wife's plan for this was just throwing a few potatoes in an unloved part of the garden at home to see what would happen, and it became a patch, then another hole got dug...   And then another and they got made bigger- just enough time for a few bits before the season closes, then things will get planted for next spring.    First patch is 25 potato plants, with room for a few more things  middle patch is carrots and radish and when the  next plot is finished it will be things for next year- garlic and onion probably.   Progress is painfully slow because the soil is full of stone and building debris that we dug out, sifted and mixed compost into. All the stone is going to be further sorted from root/debris and hauled to the field for bbq/lizard hotel foundations because it beats paying for it. I'm hoping to install 4 similar sized patches at the acres come spring, so this is good practice.     Tomato crops from my 4 plants have been ace this year and I'm developing a small stockpile despite best efforts to devour them all as they ripen- really nice variety that I wish I remembered the name of.   Current foraging efforts are on crab apples and rowan berries- both useful and easy to crop. Another jam session is needed soon!       Went out scouting some other farms- growing pumpkins and corn. Definitely doing some corn next year.   Another one of the current efforts is the fruit into booze programme- here we see blurry shots of- ~500g frozen blackberries -1 litre vodka The recipe is put them in a glass jar and periodically shake the poo poo out of it- once a day for a few weeks and then once a week for a few months. After that it gets strained and filtered, and some sugar is added- the amount varies on the berries/to taste. The result is loving amazing and this year blackberries, sloes and rhubarb are all getting a vodka or gin (or both) bath.   Planning a morning run up to the acres and see what's what- kids and some friends want to camp down there before the holidays end so if the weather is okay then I have some prep to do for that over the next week.
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Aug 25, 2018 20:55
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Thanks for giving me a start by opening with a picture of Hicks lying down next to a freshly dug hole, you son of a gun. Glad he's perked up a bit.
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Aug 25, 2018 21:27
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Brexit prep well under way then, I see. I'm coming up to yours if everything goes to poo poo. Mostly for the vodka, that looks amazing.
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Aug 26, 2018 09:55
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Party Boat posted:Thanks for giving me a start by opening with a picture of Hicks lying down next to a freshly dug hole, you son of a gun. Glad he's perked up a bit. Yeah I'm not gonna start a post with a picture of a dead cat, when he passes it will probably be followed by me going full fugue state for awhile- but hopefully that's far away yet Miftan posted:Brexit prep well under way then, I see. I'm coming up to yours if everything goes to poo poo. Mostly for the vodka, that looks amazing. The Peoples Republic of Ganjastan welcomes you! And yeah the vodka is mind blowing and should be made by all easy... just like   Checked in on the ladies in coop two  Before going off to lurk around industrial estates at 7am on a sunday morning which I heard from the kids is an a e s t h e t i c or something.  The only decent find that I could fit in the audi- most were damp or broken. I want a beat up old hilux for this kinda work but ugh money.     There's not much to report from the rounds     Other than a distinct autumnal feel to the air- pond is still wet and I might just have to dig a bit more while its wet and hope for another dry spell next year.     Even just a 15 minute wander around is nice  Despite a grumpy cat (the black one is notably absent)  Well that was the rounds and no one has wandered off with a tree or the pond or 'owt like that. Bonus. Came back with a jam making cauldron and todays batch is looking like crabapple and rowanberry- starting the process now, will take pictures
DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 10:05 on Aug 26, 2018 |
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Aug 26, 2018 10:01
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Crabapple and Rowanberry is finished and set well but had a smaller yield than expected/hoped, currently working on crabapple and blackberry and we have a few more batches to deal with- still have kilos and kilos of various fruits left in the freezer- all must go. Fantastic taste on the Crabapple/Rowan- strong berry taste then a tart, lemony zing- good in a sandwich and good on some strong cheddar too. Taking pictures of each batch, will probably post em all together in a day or two with an idea of the whole process. Back on the acres tomorrow for a quick visit at least
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Aug 27, 2018 14:46
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That's a good cat.
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Aug 27, 2018 21:38
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Excellent catting! I was going to be upset over the lack of bees and there they were! Yay, bees! No more cows gone wild? Today I learned that rowan berries are edible and, apparently, are sometimes used as a substitute for coffee. Huh. Although, I didn't find anything that says why you would do such a thing or how it replaces coffee beans but there you go.
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Aug 28, 2018 01:59
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Are you planning on building a permenant homestead OP? Or are you just doing the caravan thing? Either way, I love what you have done with the place!
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Aug 29, 2018 11:53
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The weather has been a bit crap so I didn't go yet- work was largely set to be clearing for camping etc and now its called off due to rain also. Next few days look better on the forecast but so did today till it drizzled hard all morning. Working on a third batch of jam now, then will post more- this is inbetween shopping and baking a cake and delivering daughter to a sleepover and such though so delays creep up. spookygonk posted:That's a good cat. I have known many cats and as of yet this is the bestest xcheopis posted:Excellent catting! Eunice herded up with some other cows that were left on the neighbors land really fast, and within a few days the grazier had them penned up and transported- until I fix the borders up I'm always going to be at risk of invasion though It's the first time we have used rowanberry, but the berry then tart taste is remarkable- we are also planning another batch in a few weeks because its hard to tell when the berries are fully ripe- some guides reccomend waiting till after first frost, others just now. Coffee isnt the taste I would associate, maybe if they got dried and roasted and powdered it might do something- frankly if I ran out of coffee I might be prepared to try just about anything to keep the shakes away friendbot2000 posted:Are you planning on building a permenant homestead OP? Or are you just doing the caravan thing? Either way, I love what you have done with the place! Thanks The long term plan is to live down there full time, but that needs cash/time I don't have right now- technically there's legally nothing stopping me from living there in a "static caravan" right now, and some "static caravans" look suspiciously like very nice log cabins that just happen to be on the largest legally road transportable frames in such a way as to make a mockery of planning laws. On a lottery winning budget, I would start with that while working on a nice large concrete basement/foundations, over which would go a larger wood built home. Solar and wind would probably have to do for power, there's a water main at the road but I would probably go for a well or two. On a more realistic budget I would like a newer, larger touring type caravan just for staying in and not for tool storage- I love my existing van but its full of tools and crap and is showing it's age in so many places. From there I'm planning on slowly clearing a nice spot in the woods overlooking the main field and biding my time
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Aug 29, 2018 14:00
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DesperateDan posted:Thanks I looked into this when a nice plot of woodland was for sale near me, and unless there is a residential building or farm building on your plot, or you have some sort of planning permission stuff going on then you probably can't 'legally' live on it full time, even in a caravan/tent. I'm sure the limit was 28 days of living there 'per plot' per year before you are technically not doing it legally. If you have looked into this properly and have worked out how to do it legally then I'd love to hear how you are doing it!
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Aug 30, 2018 00:05
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Tomarse posted:I looked into this when a nice plot of woodland was for sale near me, and unless there is a residential building or farm building on your plot, or you have some sort of planning permission stuff going on then you probably can't 'legally' live on it full time, even in a caravan/tent. I'm sure the limit was 28 days of living there 'per plot' per year before you are technically not doing it legally. here comes a caffeine induced wall 'o text Planning permission from scratch in England and Wales is really quite tough, but doing it to fresh, green belt, virginal woodland is luckily a bit different to doing something to land that is splat in the middle of a bunch of active farms and that the council still see as part of a farm that the previous tenant lived on. I'm going to be intentionally coy about my own situation other than to say that things are complex, but may well be fine as they are, but I like having plans in contingency- it's all academic until my bank account has more friendly looking figures or other events transpire anyway I am of course not a solicitor, not offering legal advice, and planning laws and enforcement of them vary by so many rules and by location that you would be a fool not to get a specialist solicitors advice on things before spending a penny on land. There are ways to deal with planning permission even for woodland, and the key to victory largely involves understanding what the council wants to do, which largely seems to be the noble goal of not letting people snap up cheap woodland and put horrific mc mansions up on them under false pretence of a farm or smallholding. If you want to be a farmer, you have to act like one. The easiest way I see from scratch is to create a business, and inform the local council you wish to put up a building in your land to work to work the land from- it's far harder for them to refuse that compared with a residential building because you don't explicitly need any permission to put up some small farm buildings/site a works caravan/etc anyway, it's doing them a courtesy. This then buys you five years for you to have a mobile home on site as a "permitted development" to provide full time accommodation for a worker/direct family thereof while you grow a business. Then you have a much stronger chance of getting good planning permissions at the end of those five years- if you can show you already support yourself/family largely from the land and you haven't made a nuisance then it makes things a lot easier than trying for full planning permission from scratch with a business plan. You can also use some totally cool dirty tricks- like after those five years, saying "I was naughty" and providing evidence that you actually lived inside the shed/barn/planetarium you put up for the last 4 years and apply for retrospective permission- which is, sadly, significantly easier than just being honest from the start. You could just roll straight in ninja style and do it on the sly- get away with living in it for 4 years for a "permanent structure" or 10 for a caravan (some people have gotten away with taking the wheels off a caravan and putting it on a base to count for a permanent structure) and you win, but a single tip off to the council even a day before that period ends could screw you entirely, and you would need reasonable evidence of living there that long too. There's many other loopholes and such under various circumstances- some communes split a parcel of land into loads of small plots, then claim to move around plots under the 28 day period anyone gets for camping. It's entirely grey area stuff but things like that get next to no attention compared with the people trying to build literal castles behind a some hay bales and pass it off as a barn. Be wary of advice on the internet about this- (especially all of the above) because theres a lot of skewed info- for example places selling blocs of woodland offering advice saying planning permission is near impossible, but woodland they sell just so happens to come quietly with a covenant built in explicitly preventing you using it as such. I know some of the above is possible because I know of two local farms that used variations of the above to come into existence with very few problems- but a few miles down the road I have no doubt the same council would have told them to gently caress right off due to the area involved. That was long and I need to go back to being run off my feet by kids and cat and stuff but I promise jamposting soon!
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Aug 30, 2018 10:25
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I was actually considering doing what you are doing right now with my eventual 5-acre piece of dreamland. Until I have sufficient funds I would at most build a garage to store tools/be a work shed/keep my car out of the elements and borrow my parents RV to live in while I worked the property before actually building my dream house (Simple, small 2-3 bedroom house. I am not about that flashy McMansion bullshit). I am curious, in your country do you have to get planning permissions to build a shed or "garage" to store your tools instead of using your caravan? Do you have a plan where you are going to have your house? Can you take pictures and draw us a sketch? What is your topsoil like? I live in Virginia so we have a lot of red clay. I am probably going to have to mulch over everything in sight before I start working the land good and proper. This may be too personal and feel free to not answer, but what do you, your wife, and your cat do for work? Especially your cat. Do you have jobs that let you work remotely? That is the only way I can feasibly imagine living where I want to live. I am a software developer so I can work anywhere that has a stable internet connection, just wondering if you were in the same boat. Again, the most important bit of this line of inquiry is where your cat works.
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Aug 30, 2018 13:03
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DesperateDan posted:planetarium I suppose if you're in a darkfield dark field, that could work.
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Aug 30, 2018 14:10
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DesperateDan posted:here comes a caffeine induced wall 'o text Yeah this guy? https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/farmer-who-built-castle-hidden-7658785 Didn't go so well for him did it. You are spot on the money about not loving around when it comes to permit applications and planning laws - seek out a professional with specialized knowledge at the first sign of trouble and never try to deceive the autorities, there are so so many ways you can get screwed. Although, to be honest, I didn't follow my own advice here when it came to my own permit-requiring project, I DIYed that as well. Luckily, I'm an attourney.
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Aug 30, 2018 14:27
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Nice piece of fish posted:Yeah this guy? https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/farmer-who-built-castle-hidden-7658785 It is too bad about that guy's castle. It was pretty cool looking, but I get why permits and codes exist so people don't die and stuff. Do you have any advice on applying for permits and the like? Also, do permits and surveys expire? Like, say you want to get all the groundwork done but won't break ground for a couple of years. As a law-goon, is there a mechanism for that? Or are you timeboxed when you get approved for permits?
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Aug 30, 2018 15:28
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As far as I know most permits last 6 months, then you can file for an extension.
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Aug 30, 2018 15:45
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friendbot2000 posted:It is too bad about that guy's castle. It was pretty cool looking, but I get why permits and codes exist so people don't die and stuff. General advice would be to ask for advice directly from the people in the municipality (actual permit givers). They are often supposed to help you out through the process and they have an interest themselves in making your work good and thus their job easier on themselves. Other than that, any advice would be very jurisdiction dependant. Maybe ask in the legal questions megathread, because I can't tell you anything outside of scandiland.
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Aug 30, 2018 17:52
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friendbot2000 posted:It is too bad about that guy's castle. It was pretty cool looking, but I get why permits and codes exist so people don't die and stuff. Im glad that guy lost his 'battle' with his council. There's a huge difference between applying in retrospect and doing what he did, which is essentially arrogance on the scale of being a massive wanker and believing that the law doesn't apply to you. The "castle" he built was a pure McMansion in its worst possible form. Everything fake, but made to look old. There's a documentary that takes you inside the house, and it's just pure Disney fake. Don't get me wrong, I think the whole planning permission situation here in the UK is far too restrictive and needs a massive overhaul (especially when it comes to the NIMBY mindset) but we aren't talking about building affordable housing or anything with that guy. It was arrogance of an incredibly crass and crude sort which really bit him on the arse.
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Aug 30, 2018 23:17
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DesperateDan posted:here comes a caffeine induced wall 'o text Thanks for the long answer and apologies for the derail. My post wasn't supposed to be negative - You have clearly done your homework. I hadn't realised that it was still classified as farmland - that definitely looks to make it much easier. The bit I found here wasn't virginal woodland but I think the remnants of a paddock/orchard/wood stash from the edge of an estate of very long-gone smallholding (which had long since been knocked down and rebuilt as a house on the adjacent plot) Back to Jam and Catte's 
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Sep 1, 2018 14:09
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Tomarse posted:Back to Jam and Catte's I'm super busy at the moment so todays post is gonna be a catch up for all the poor lurkers who just want some goddamn pretty pictures, then I will go back later and catch up properly/reply to things because its relevant and interesting and such But for todays big image filled long post? The Katzenjammer Kid       It's been another busy week, and I only had time for another quick checkup today, but pictures just take a moment The rounds went without incident, all the plants are getting ready to sleep      It's very pleasant and sunny, but the berries in the bushes and the slight colour palette fade into deeper greens and browns still screams autumn. Blackberries that remain are now mostly quite tart/bitter. Brought down some mixed terracotta bits for some lizard homes.       The trampled lavender survived well enough to have hopes for overwintering      On the way home, we stopped by a run of crabapple trees and hit them up- some are having a really great year for production- haven't weighed the haul properly but a few kilos at least.        Back at home, the potato patch is doing great- added in a few more I had potted as reserves, think there's about 30 altogether now. Centre spot now has radish, carrots and a few onions, and when I'm done with the last plot it's going to get a bunch of onion and garlic for next year. Jam. I kinda failed slightly on the whole documentation of methods properly here, but let's get the gist of things through a bunch of pictures taken over the last 3 batches. Oh and obviously- technically this is Jelly. not Jam. But I call it jam. Jam to me is lumpy or smooth, jelly comes very wobbly at parties with ice cream shaped by novelty molds.      How do we make it? First we procure the fruit, wash it and chop it if not already done, then it goes in the cauldron. Then water gets added, a hugely scientific amount which normally is about halfway up the fruit. The fruit that's in a cauldron.   Items like this little fella, he don't wanna be made into jam. Remove.    Then it gets heated to a low simmer, and it gets mashed up with a potato masher and some bad language/hearty singing. Essential part of the process, actually.      Then it looks like a weird mashed up soup which has a varying amount of peel, pith, pit and pip and plant fibre along with those tasty juices, so a jam sieve strainer thing is used and that, over a horrific amount of boring time  Makes for a quantity of strong mixed fruit juice that will make a super clear jam/jelly- squeezing the bag out for more will get you greater yield at the sacrifice of some cloudiness to the jam- I like jam so the bag is squished for more. The quantity of liquid produced varies a lot based on the fruit used- things like hawse, rowan and sloe have a very high seed/fruit flesh proportion and hence dont make nearly as much weight for weight as a raspberry or apple.  Hawse/Haws, Sloes, Cherry, Red and Green Gooseberry, Blackcurrant, Blackberry, Raspberry - 963g Crabapple - 822g Water - 700ml Lemon Juice ~15ml The above formula had about as much fruit weight/water as the blackberry/crabapple batch we did and we yielded around half the amount of juice. The general batch size is about 2kg of fruit for us but a little under or over doesn't matter. Now comes the actual jam making bit with the risk of horrific injury etc so don't gently caress around. Heat the gently caress out of the juice till it boils, take off the heat and add sugar- three quarters of the ml of the juice becomes your grams of sugar- a litre of juice, about 750g sugar. We don't add pectins especially but sometimes throw some lemon juice in on experimental batches to help. Preheating the sugar a bit in the oven around 60-70C is a pro move.   Stir in the sugar with the heat off till its dissolved- stops any sugar sticking to the pan and burning. Then you heat the everloving piss out of the pan/cauldron while skimming off any scum that rises until it hits magic temperature.  You then splash a bit on a cold plate (have one ready) and see how it reacts- if it stays runny keep heating for a minute, two at most then retry. When its ready it will become sticky fast and wrinkle up if smeared a bit, you spoon it into your jars (have them ready I guess) and seal them- I don't have much in the way of pictures of that or such but over the next week or two I will be doing at least another two batches or so and will try and get it done right with pics too Sorry for a thrown together post but the end of the school holidays is keeping me too busy- hoping to get some good work days over the next few weeks before the weather breaks down too much. DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Sep 2, 2018 |
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Sep 2, 2018 18:48
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Great Post, great catte, great spiders. 10/10
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Sep 2, 2018 19:29
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I blasted through this thread at 3 in the morning and it's the most wholesome diy thread i've ever read. I love it 
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Sep 3, 2018 00:00
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Most sincerely: Thank you for sharing!
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Sep 3, 2018 04:03
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Good stuff. Great catte.
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Sep 3, 2018 16:40
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Mods change thread title to "The Five Acres: Good Stuff, Great Catte"
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Sep 3, 2018 16:52
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Thanks goons Kids only went back to school yesterday so normal service is yet to be properly resumed- I had planned on being very lazy indeed to celebrate some freedom but things got thung instead- still working on a reply post for the other bits but in the meantime I thought it wouldnt generate any complaints if I were to provide: a little more of the same   The last plot in the garden is now finished and filled with a nice mix of sifted earth and compost    Carrots are now popping up as well as radishes going wild on the centre plot. It's an older picture of the plot, so imagine some more tempestuous radish action shots because the ones I took today are blurry and I honestly can't be hosed to go take more.  Spuds are getting crazy big.  Got onions and garlic waiting to go in my new patch now.  This raspberry got chewed up by sawfly pretty badly but has still produced a handful or two of good fruit- the one at the field is twice the size but didn't flower this year.  Other new arrivals are a kiwi (grows on a vine), japanese quince and a cherry plum (both trees), those will get potted up and planted at the acres next year. All these were on the want list, so it was nice to score these.       Near every time we go in the garden Hicks comes and protects us which is obviously at the charge of multiple fusses per hour- he's on union rates.  This really might not look like much other than 3 half full rubble buckets of mixed stone/stray roots, but it represents a chunk of a job I have been delaying for ages finally being tackled- this used to have a bunch of thick roots, soil and waste strewn through it that all got laboriously sifted out and sorted. Now I can haul them to the acres, and this will be an excellent foundation material for some lizard homes and other bits like the bbq base.   I have really been making an effort with eating loads of tomatoes but 4 plants are producing more than we use- I have over a kilo backlog and many more ripening soon so I'm planning on some sauce/ketchup/relish when I hit 2 keys. Next year 6 plants for more!   The haul of crabapples was good- a bit shy of 4 kilos before sorting, and we put that into two runs of jam- one purely crabapple, then another with some cinnamon sticks added.  Holy loving shitballs, I thought the crabapple alone was great but the cinnamon turns it into something tasting just like ideal apple pie.      I had only wanted to do another kilo or so of crabapplin for another batch with rowan berries, but another apple pie jam batch might be needed too as most of it went in smaller jars for potential gifting and I covet more of it for myself in big strappin' mason jars.   I was gonna cover the whole jarring method better but other than take some crap pictures didn't really get there- This method isn't great, its old fashioned and mason jars are best but it works well enough- especially when gifting and not expecting the jar back.   The jars get washed well then steamed, before being placed in the oven around 70-80C to dry/keep hot. The jam goes in them. Using a sparing amount of fresh boiled water, wipe the inside neck of the jar clean of spatter/drip.    Then a waxed disc covers the surface exposed area, before a cellophane wrap goes over the top to provide a hopefully airtight seal.    After being put into jars it should be allowed to sit, first for 24-48 hours ideally without moving at all then a few weeks in a cupboard to let it set properly and fully. Cloudiness and bubbles are largely dealt with in this household by not giving a gently caress  Planning on a field trip tomorrow morning and will update accordingly
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Sep 7, 2018 18:29
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inexpident excavations    So first up was the commute and crabapples and I exhausted my normal spot- bar taking a ladder down there and frankly I think I need to start coping with my jam addiction and not feeding it. Just another batch or two... just to hold me over... just two for the road...     Always nice to be welcomed, haven't seen this timid wee beastie in a few visits so it was important to leave a snacktastic offering. Saw their grumpy buddy too.         The rounds were... erm. Rounded. Not much to say- trees are largely where I left em. Oh, plenty of grass grazed again- I suspect the deer but I'm always hopeful for an errant cow or horse.  Sloes, Hawse and Rosehip will be in season soon- most of these blackberries are too tart to my tastes now, but a few are wonderfully sweet- fruit based russian roulette.  Cass has put out a bunch more web but couldn't see her today.  Had a request to gather feathers for a friend's crafting exploits- happy to oblige     The initial plan for the day was to mainly just bring in stone and do tidying and basic maintenance on padlocks etc but turns out the pond was "dry" and so I grabbed some shovels and buckets and got to work.    It really, really sucks to dig waterlogged clay, moreso when its strewn with thick matted roots and smelly decomposing... stuff. Suddenly digging and sifting stuff in the back garden at home seemed far more appealing- but it needs to be done, so I got stuck in. Literally.    I hauled the excavated sludge up the edge of the pond and continued landscaping a flattened rim around the edge of the pond, and smacked it into stodgy, stinking obedience with a shorty shovel. Forgot good pictures of the other side which is bigger and took more work and will have a lizard hotel on it, but it's there.   Its hard to get a good sense of scale, but the excavated trench is now a good chunk more than twice as long as it was- another solid dig and I will have a moat/island, which I can hopefully attack further- weather dependent.   Sowed grass seed on my new earthern bank  A couple of hours of slow progress later I was too achy to continue and so I hosed off home, had a showerbeer and wrote this
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Sep 8, 2018 17:25
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Cats! Bees! How soon before new fruit-bearing plants bear, um, fruit?
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Sep 8, 2018 23:38
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| # ? May 8, 2024 00:47 |
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DesperateDan posted:
did you turn in your quest for 8 cow butts while you were at it?
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Sep 10, 2018 11:26
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