What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12

[Yorkshire Andy]

Wife's car fully serviced

Oil & filter

Air filter

Cabin filter

Spark plugs replaced

Gear box linkages cleaned and lubricated

Wheels off front and rear brakes stripped, cleaned and relevant points lubricated ..

Antifreeze and brake fluid tested

battery tested

Inspected all suspension components

All road lights and horn all checked

Tyres checked and pressures checked

Cost me about £60 in parts and oil vs £442 at a dearership garage


34.46 fir service kit

17.30 for 5l of oil

Bit of spray grease

Brake cleaner

Brake assembly grease

[Frnc]

BBC has pulled its BBC2 documentary How To Survive A War Zone, following complaints,

Complaints complaining that it was made by Hamas. True complaints.

Toward the end, the lad who volunteers with the paramedics, says he blames Hamas for all the misery in Gaza over the last 15 months. He is asked about it, and he reiterated, "they started it". You can't get much more anti-Hamas than that. And he went on a BBC video saying it, said it twice, on camera.

Hamas isn't mentioned much. When Israel is bombing a hospital, a few people say they've never seen any Hamas there.

[Frnc]

40 mph here gusts now, expecting to peak around 50 in about 3 or 4 hours. Some places have rain warnings as well.

[Frnc]

Just seen a video that claims you can eat birch twigs in winter. Looked like silver birch. Said to use old dry britle twigs, roast for 20 minutes, then use in tea or grind to make a flour. I have no idea if there's any nutrients in them. I did once read that birch has anti-cancer properties, and this has been researched, but I'm not sure if there was any conclusive evidence. The properties are supposed to be transferred to fungi that grow on birch.

Another video says you can eat hazel catkins in February.

[Sarini]

The new chicken run, greenhouse and the kids wendy house/basecamp (free from market place - it was supposed to be a new coop but the kids intercepted!) have all been put up this week. Working slow and steady throughout the day had me getting quite a lot done without doing myself any harm or exhausting myself like i usually do.

I start my new job tomorrow...it's kind of prepping, I've gone full time to help build the finances for the familys future and put a bit more cash redundancy and flexibility into our household.

I've got some green manure seeds that should arrive this week that'll go down in the old chicken run space, I am looking to start cultivating this area but not all of it so will green manure half of it and cultivate half rather than spending myself to thin and struggling too keep up. I'm on clay and all this wet weather has reminded me why I stopped gardening a couple of years after we moved to Cornwall. I need to get more organic matter into the soil, i managed to get one free load of woodchip but haven't managed it again. Where I put it, its a pleasure to be in the garden, everywhere else is nasty, heavy, sticky mess, I may have to spring the ££ and pay for a delivery really don't want to.

[GillyBee]

If you can track down your local tree surgeon he may be only too happy to offload some woodchip for you for free or next to nothing. Round here they have to pay to get rid of it.

[Sarini]

If you can track down your local tree surgeon he may be only too happy to offload some woodchip for you for free or next to nothing. Round here they have to pay to get rid of it.

I wish that were the case here! I have called and messaged a few but they all charge the same amount. I'm on arbtalk for paid or free woodchip drop but I've only had one load delivered. Ive put an ad on facebook mkt place too and even when ive seen tree surgeons working ive gone and spoken to them to say id take the woodchip on my drive that day if it helps them at all . I've put the word out to friends if they know any tree surgeons etc, so far nothing. One tree surgeon said if he is working locally on a really big job and just needs to get rid of a load of chip quickly without driving back to their yard they would give it for free to save their driving and time, otherwise they just hold out for the cash.

I had a call back from a tree surgeon this evening. He is going to deliver some tomorrow but I'm paying him. I'll get on with that an keep hoping to get some for free until I really need more and will pay for another delivery. I spoke to one yesterday who charges 40 quid per dumpy bag and no discount until 6 bags were purchased. It just seems pretty steep to me but I guess the demand is there or he couldn't charge it. I didn't take up the offer, it really was too much £

This is what slowed me down before, not wanting to pay so I'm going to go for it for now. I won't regret it but I'd rather have it for free obviously.

Right now the chickens need it. Their new run is full of puddles despite a load of strawmax. Deep woodchip is magic stuff in the garden, it's like a water battery soaking up water all winter and releasing it all over summer so it'll make us more resilient to erratic climate and the additional organic matter and microbes as it beeak down gives a lovely soil to work with.

Another reason for wanting to work on the garden is to put up some taller trees and structures for food vines etc. We're blessed with a south facing, slightly sloped garden,, we're at the bottom of a valley, we absolutely baked in the hot summer 2 (?) years ago so really want to get some shade into the space. We don't antipathy moving so it's also part of the long term plan to make us more resilient to future climate changes.

[GillyBee]

I feel your pain. I am in a London suburb and free manure just doesn't exist although I can get woodchip. I guess it all comes down to how much is being produced and how hard it is to sell or give away.
All the best with your plans. They do sound good. I am jealous of the chooks. They are banned In our tenancy. Enjoy!

[grenfell]

Just seen a video that claims you can eat birch twigs in winter. Looked like silver birch. Said to use old dry britle twigs, roast for 20 minutes, then use in tea or grind to make a flour. I have no idea if there's any nutrients in them. I did once read that birch has anti-cancer properties, and this has been researched, but I'm not sure if there was any conclusive evidence. The properties are supposed to be transferred to fungi that grow on birch.

Another video says you can eat hazel catkins in February.

That sounded plausible , after all tapping birch trees for their sap seems fairly common and something I'd already known about . I had a google and this site talks about using birch although it says to use live twigs rather than dead and to make the flour from the inner bark .That would seem to make sense to me at least as far as the nutrients are concerned as I would think live wood contains more than dead wood...
https://www.growforagecookferment.com/f ... irch/green

[grenfell]

I do a certain amount of gardening work and recently was asked to quote for a clearance of a fairly large and very overgrown garden. The job would need a shredder/chipper and I've investigated them . The smaller petrol powered ones start at £500+ and the larger towed models are many thousands . It would cost me about £150 to hire the smaller one for a week plus add in the petrol to run it and it soon becomes clear why tree surgeons will try to sell their chippings if they can.