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I wonder how a crabapple or two would do. The fruit is generally inedible unless you make pie, but they have a lot of good properties for animals. And also small humans once they're big enough. Though some animals will gnaw the bark off and kill them. EDIT: Maybe even just a bit larger type of a regular apple tree, just avoid the grafting. Everything I know about small humans says you'd need to find a spot within viewing distance but not immediately close to whatever is the place you expect humans to spend most of their time though. endlessmonotony fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Apr 25, 2021 |
# ? Apr 25, 2021 22:11 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 06:36 |
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endlessmonotony posted:I wonder how a crabapple or two would do. I have two in the ground and one more potted and ready to go in if I get some rain- all from bare root saplings bought last year I was going to get more on the last shipment but I'm gonna hold off and then buy one or two of the expensive varieties specialised for jam/booze- though the three I have should prove good at that They are also excellent pollinators for most apple and pear varieties Tomato seedlings on the windowsill are doing well, got some peppers and chillies coming up too
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# ? Apr 26, 2021 20:35 |
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Will you be growing any catnip/cat mint?
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# ? Apr 26, 2021 20:55 |
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DesperateDan posted:I have two in the ground and one more potted and ready to go in if I get some rain- all from bare root saplings bought last year Can always grow a sapling from a seed for regular apple trees. Whether or not the fruit is edible outside a pie is always an open question though. Their nature provides animals with food and shelter, and small humans with something to injure themselves with. And/or toss at each other.
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# ? Apr 26, 2021 21:01 |
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xcheopis posted:Will you be growing any catnip/cat mint? Yes, but probably next year- it should grow quite well in s few spots. This year saw lots put on hold so I could focus on a few bits endlessmonotony posted:Can always grow a sapling from a seed for regular apple trees. Whether or not the fruit is edible outside a pie is always an open question though. I have tried twice from seeds and they failed- I'm thinking this year I will just put bits of apple core in some pots/soil and see what happens office job, nine to five sup brought in some fun stuff, like my new bag of tricks and auxiliary water Lots of fond memories here, but this setup is fundamentally flawed- exposed to a north wind and the floor very prone to mud Had to set up the kettle all different Got some stuff from the stockpile, most of which I didn't use yet, and got to work excavating for footing slabs Measured up but still managed to be off by a fair bit, and thanks to the hill I had a fair bit of height to adjust for- I dug one set deeper into the soil and built up some stacks for the other end to go on with some scrap concrete from the old firepit for some drainage and structure Got it level enough for sitting on Then it was time to split a little wood Cause these sausages don't cook themselves if someone knows where I can get self cooking sausages please let me know sossig Next up was getting a table in place and level, and piling the earth around the slabs and packing them in. Decided not to use sand/cement yet, going to let them settle a little first Also making the old area clear- felt oddly sad and nostalgic ripping up the old slabs So that's the bench and a table moved into position and as level as the thing on my phone would let me tell cause I forgot the spirit level more, soon
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# ? Apr 28, 2021 19:34 |
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What a way to make a living
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# ? Apr 29, 2021 15:56 |
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Finally caught up with five months of posts. Under Mrs Clarence's guidance I'm learning to recognise the various flowers that grow around here, and I was pleased with myself that I could identify some of the ones that you've posted!
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# ? Apr 29, 2021 20:11 |
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Clarence posted:Finally caught up with five months of posts.
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# ? Apr 30, 2021 02:06 |
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xcheopis posted:What a way to make a living Its enough to drive you crazy if you let it imo Clarence posted:Finally caught up with five months of posts. If I had known you were gonna be sat there reading it all I would say I would have posted better but we all know that's a lie, shitposts 4 lyfe I'm still pretty bad with flower and plant recognition but google lens is pretty helpful and there's a youtube with a rather fun fellow who goes round swearing at plants which has also helped me a lot laboratory? more like slaboratory amirite happy communism day comrades! This crow followed us in, and I think the same one followed us out, a kind companion. Spooked a deer, nearly tripped over the poor thing as it hid in scrub, it promptly sprinted into the tree line and froze long enough for a crap shot of it. Its there, trust me. Stuff brought in. Hot drinks. Maybe I'm hiding something... Prepping some wood and starting a little fire always brings me some calm This slab on the BBQ didn't like the repeated impacts of me splitting logs on it though, whoopsadoodle Elevenses were very enjoyable After that, we had a few old bird ball boxes to dispose of- they get all crudded up with beef tallow so they are no good for recycling and they attract beasts to the caravan so we tore the tape off and burnt them- the secondary combustion chamber of the rocket stove made for a nice, vigorous and clean burn Worked on getting another table and the dumping-stuff-on pallet situated and usefully level Need some more work gloves Well, that's the office a bit more efficient and tidy This is one of the hawthorn planted a few weeks back- coming through beautifully now More? Soon.
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# ? May 3, 2021 15:52 |
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I am so used to finding the hidden cat in photos that I found the deer almost immediately.
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# ? May 3, 2021 20:36 |
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xcheopis posted:I am so used to finding the hidden cat in photos that I found the deer almost immediately. Did you find the squirrel first? One day I'm actually gonna manage a good picture of a muntjac by my own hand, rather than cheating around with these newfangled trailcams
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# ? May 4, 2021 18:13 |
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DesperateDan posted:I'm still pretty bad with flower and plant recognition but google lens is pretty helpful and there's a youtube with a rather fun fellow who goes round swearing at plants which has also helped me a lot Apple. That's a pond (Mrs Clarence would be proud of me) Bluebell (native?). Yellow ones in the background - Celandine I think Bluebell again, Greater Stitchwort and Dandelion Apple again Blackthorn? Greater Stitchwort again Um, er... How'd I do? I've been taking photos and video and was thinking of making youtube shorts of what I take, as a way of working with the identifications enough to be able to actually remember them.
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# ? May 4, 2021 20:48 |
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Clarence posted:Um, er... You did good and should give it a try Clarence posted:That's a pond (Mrs Clarence would be proud of me) That's primrose pond Clarence posted:Blackthorn? I don't think so, I thought apple or pear but I took another pic of the same tree today Lens says prunus so some form of cherry but there's lots of cherry varieties feeling chipper Sunny for the most part First up was rehydrating, tightening my bootlaces and hiking back up the hill with a wheelbarrow to collect more things Next up I kept the birds happy I'm gonna keep my eye out for another kettle of this type to put in a cupboard just in case when this one eventually dies I can be sure of another Let us examine our building material stockpile Brought in another two of these nice slabs Then I set about the pile of brickwork and concrete to clean it up, chip off the mortar/concrete and inventory it. You know what was in the brickwork? Ants. That's how you get ants. And worms. And perhaps some kind of ant-worm. It was an archaeological dig of sorts- the original build was from ready-mix post crete with rocks in it (which is about as unsuitable as it comes for building) and then rebuilt later, first with concrete slop with tent peg rebar, then when that failed I actually used a half decent mortar. That first mix, the postcrete, was incredibly more resistant to the hammer than the latter two, but I only broke one more brick Also ow my forearms That's things looking a bit more shipshape and bristol fashion- 54 paving bricks, 8 half bricks and 7 slabs ready for anything Got some onions in at the front of the caravan- experimental for now as this is old seed but may put another bucket to some other onions and then later in the year some garlic too Put down some soil where the old bench was and added grass seed, then more soil, watered it then mulched it with leaves and watered it again and stomped it up a bit While spied upon by the stealth master Checked on some of last year's saplings- this maple and rowan are doing well More, soon! DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 17:10 on May 7, 2021 |
# ? May 7, 2021 17:08 |
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pickling picked peppers I pickled some peppers and some garlic and some of the garlic has turned blue Oh and I went to the farm too so let's look at those things I guess I did go and check an industrial estate for pallets to fetch down here but they were both too wet and too large to fit in the car but I did a sick little skid-turn on some wet tarmac Sunny on my hike down, then between getting the birds fed and the kettle on, it was raining and not again and again again too and it did that all day Didn't seem to bother our friends here though I dragged the table over to the office and got it dug in a bit and vaguely level- it's loving heavy and this was a chore Lots of bugs under the slabs where the table was Fire time. I know it's warmed up when the smoke suddenly disappears Trying out drying some wood with the waste heat to dry it more- worked pretty well, if I adjust it a bit I can probably get it to char Really getting into the whole bbq warmed bread thing here Dug out my other bbq grill on a stick things and burnt em up good I went and sorted and tidied the caravan out and filled two bin bags of crap, and then brought out these cushions and swept, beat and then irradiated them More than one daughter of Cass is doing well in there I then gave the cushions a thorough testing, they passed but the flavour is really starting to get overpowering Oh yeah and I'm gonna camp overnight on Friday if the weather doesn't gently caress me over, more soon! DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 19:02 on May 10, 2021 |
# ? May 10, 2021 18:59 |
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I must say, you do eat well.
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# ? May 10, 2021 20:38 |
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spookygonk posted:I must say, you do eat well. Good food/drink leads to good morale, good morale leads to good times and good poo poo getting done That reminds me, I need to speak to the quartermaster about a climate change militia 24hr combat ration... More soon
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# ? May 12, 2021 08:22 |
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DesperateDan posted:Oh yeah and I'm gonna camp overnight on Friday if the weather doesn't gently caress me over lol
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# ? May 13, 2021 10:16 |
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At least the plants will like the rain!
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# ? May 13, 2021 12:04 |
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Maugrim posted:At least the plants will like the rain! They will, and it will let me get some more plants in the ground easily I wanted to camp tho five acres, three years Well comrades- today marks another year of the thread, and I'm pretty fuckin' happy with the progress made on the farm over the last year given the numerous natures of our exigent circumstances. Lots of plants put in the ground, a new office taking shape, a cage full of fresh firewood ready for curing. And most importantly, a happy, diverse ecosystem thriving around it. Over the next year I intend on focusing on logistics, pictures of cats, ease of access and boundary maintenance work- we shall found more hedgerow, plant more trees and feed more birds than ever before, in comfort that humans have dreamed of for millennia. And I'm gonna shitpost about it all. I had hoped to be over there and writing a longer and slightly more flowery post (literally and figuratively) while deep under the influence of the acres but that about sums things up- I have a list of missions planned and I hope you all enjoy being along for the fight. The current plan is to try and camp again next friday with a visit or two first for planting/supply run. More. Soon.
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# ? May 14, 2021 18:54 |
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DesperateDan posted:More. Soon.
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# ? May 14, 2021 22:23 |
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Wow, can't believe this great thread has been going for 3 years, well done!
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# ? May 14, 2021 23:37 |
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spookygonk posted:Awesome. Miftan posted:Wow, can't believe this great thread has been going for 3 years, well done! Thanks- I reckon we go another 2 years then I make a new thread for the next five year plan no rain checks So it was a little after five in the morning and I get woken up by this little friend having a good old bark/hoot/chunter session under the window and figured it was a good omen It was sunny and then rainy and then sunny and then rainy Brought some of the stuff we needed but forgot proper footwear for the lad so had to dry some socks on the kettle by the time we hiked down there. This isn't the first time I dryed socks on a kettle, and I doubt it will be the last. The ditch between what were the two fields has the clearest water I have seen in there- the small, orange brown specks were very active and I presume some kind of larvae or nymph or whatever and I thought about investigating further or taking samples, but I had poo poo to do and I didn't get back to it While the lad went off and metal detected I put some plants in the ground- a crabapple, quince, a ? berry, a ??! berry and a gooseberry (Probably a honeyberry and maybe a kiwi, I'm sure they will be just fine) They just kinda disappeared into the growth There's five new plants in there then The soil is so nice in this spot, good rich topsoil for a nice depth before the clay Plant stockpile now down to mainly lavender and heather which need ericaceous compost for best effects, and a grape and an olive that will need some protection Prep the wood- I enjoy using the axe, so I normally prep more than I intend to use Cook the meat Also cook some wood- not quite charcoal making but I used the excess heat to further dry/slightly char some more wood The grass planted to cover the old bench area is coming through nicely And the onion bucket? Well it's got something growing in it Next up, (hopefully) another supply run and some more planting. More, soon. DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 16:15 on May 16, 2021 |
# ? May 16, 2021 16:13 |
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Three years! Hot drat!
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# ? May 20, 2021 21:41 |
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Congrats on the three years! Do you have any 'then and now' pictures of how things have changed?
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# ? May 21, 2021 13:11 |
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xcheopis posted:Three years! Hot drat! Clarence posted:Congrats on the three years! Thankyou! Clarence posted:Do you have any 'then and now' pictures of how things have changed? Yeah sure, if you click back to page one... Somewhere on my personal pc are some pictures of when most of the place was mowed down by tractor- about 10 years back- I will try and rustle them up during the week great lumbering beasts If this little poo poo was a bit quieter before 6am then they would be three times as adorable If you ever wondered if 2.4 metre lengths of lumber fit in the audi, the answer is "just about". Also had to play mechanic a bit but that's what you get with a 17 year old car First hike down was just me and my bag So I could grab this Which made hiking in the bird seed and lumber a lot more tolerable Next time, fat balls Can't get me, I'm part of a union As it was due to rain, put down two boxes of grass seed on paths Despite it just being a delivery trip, the supervisors made sure to show up to keep me on track Well that's some lumber supplied- more, soon.
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# ? May 22, 2021 13:46 |
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quote:
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# ? May 27, 2021 08:30 |
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Yeah it's the first dry day in forever right now. Been waiting goddamn weeks for a chance to treat the decking. Godspeed DD
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# ? May 27, 2021 10:53 |
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DesperateDan posted:great lumbering beasts First time I heard a fox yelling I thought someone (or a cat) was being attacked, so rushed out with my big boots and biker jacket to see if I could stop something or at least call the cops.
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# ? May 27, 2021 10:57 |
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quote:
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# ? May 28, 2021 07:31 |
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quote:
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# ? May 28, 2021 08:02 |
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quote:Observation team is standing by ready for data retrieval.
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# ? May 28, 2021 08:43 |
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goddamit it ate my post, I'm en route and will update later
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# ? May 28, 2021 09:28 |
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Clarence posted:Observation team is standing by ready for data retrieval. crow one to mission control, the crow has landed, executing primary union commands, over and out
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# ? May 28, 2021 11:07 |
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camping adventure one So I'm just plowing ahead on construction right now, got my area prepped, my four corners prepared and my four uprights cut to length I'm about to open up the five acres incomplete 25 hour combat ration pack to decide what's for lunch, then maybe get the uprights upright while it cooks up, will update later
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# ? May 28, 2021 13:22 |
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camping adventure II power tool boogaloo I got some things out onto a tray, examining my sundries and my first meal, beef and sweetcorn curry with garlic naan ps I have a tray now I kinda lost track of that cause power tools are fun and I built up my frame a bit more, but I have stopped to cook now
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# ? May 28, 2021 14:27 |
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Looking great! Is this a solo mission or do you have helpers?
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# ? May 28, 2021 16:35 |
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camp mission 3 and I'm tired under a tree Nice hiss After enjoying lunch and a few minutes sit, I rightfully got worried about how much time was left so I cracked on with the shelter I wanted to spruce up each end to finish, but I am stopping to get my bedding sorted while it's light, it might have to wait till tomorrow Will do a proper update once I'm settled Toughy posted:Looking great! Is this a solo mission or do you have helpers? Just me today
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# ? May 28, 2021 18:39 |
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camping hijinks chapter IV - ready for bed Used some bungee cords to quickly attach the tarp, really happy with how it's coming along Here's tonight's sleeping arrangements- a stupidly cheap hammock from amazon rigged up as a partial bivvy bag/camo net, and a ex danish armed forces sleeping bag https://twitter.com/PraxisCast/status/1397841240884973568?s=19 I also did a podcast a few days back that featured amongst other things some stuff about rewilding Also people had previously asked about donations and such and the fellas on the pod cast prompted me to set up this ko-fi link where you can give me money and I will put it into planting trees/shrubs/etc- if you have a preference of what then state your poison Gonna take an evening constitutional and then maybe have a small pasta meal or the noodles- feeling pretty tired and the bed is looking far more inviting than potatoes and ham- that will make for a fine second breakfasts! More, soon
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# ? May 28, 2021 20:52 |
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I have spent many nights in one of those sleeping bags. They are excellent fart traps. Godspeed after that curry meal.
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# ? May 28, 2021 21:39 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 06:36 |
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Mzuri posted:I have spent many nights in one of those sleeping bags. They are excellent fart traps. It's a really nice bag, must have been washed well and I'm obviously gonna mark it with my own scent now
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# ? May 28, 2021 23:00 |