The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: suziequeue on December 30, 2012, 08:36:34 am
-
:gloomy:
I am getting SO FED UP with this effing rain (mid-Wales). Sometimes the weather forecast makes it look like it is JUST raining on us here in Llanidloes >:(
The soil - heavy clay at the best of times - is absolutely saturated and everywhere squelches. Springs have sprung up everywhere. I go out clad head to toe in rubber-based textiles..... anybody would think I had a fetish.
I seem to spend my entire time "tidying up" the land around the house. We are undergoing major re-landscaping now after rebuilding our house but the resulting mess is demoralising.
We want to grow veg in our middle field but the ground is so wet. Little streams appear wherever I dig. Getting the field properly drained is a major focus in 2013 if we can afford it.
Rant over
-
If its any consolation our normally dry place (well draining sandy soil on granite and no watercourses) is also squelchy!!! and has three springs just randomly bubbling out of the ground in one of the horses fields, which has been unknown in the 60 years the previous owners knew the place.........
....but you are forgiven for it getting you down, it is everyone I think -just trying to cope til it gets better tho sadly gales and snow are our lot in the forecast :--))
-
I sympathise SQ. We're in Lincolnshire and on clay also. OH had started digging for a yard at the back of our cart store so we had better facilities for 2013 lambing. The resulting mounds of earth to climb or deep squelchy clay to get stuck in are very exhausting when it's already difficult with the wet. Elsewhere on our 'field' (once upon a time it WAS a field) there are what I can only describe as lakes which were never there before. The sheep are standing ankle deep in the mud constantly, I get my wellies stuck and have to be pulled out, changes of clothes is constant as the rain is incessant and despite efforts to be impervious against it, it still seeps in enough to feel cold and miserable. Dogs are always dirty and wet. It's like the bloody Somme.
-
A few days dry in March then a week dry in October is all we have seen this year.
So depressing , make you want to sit in a bath of cold water with the toaster while listening to the Smiths and watching Eastenders. :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy: :raining:
-
It so ain't just Llanidloes, SQ!
Reading everyone's posts does remind me to be very very grateful that our ground is peaty here. It gets squelchy and slippery, the ponies are up to their fetlocks a lot of the time (which is a worry), the tractor can't go anywhere mostly and we can't travel most of the Fell even on the quads at the moment - but at least we're not on clay. I lived in Wiltshire for many years and well remember the ton of clay that built up on your boots over really not very many footsteps. Hereabouts at least your foot comes out clean when you do manage to lift it away from the suction.
We never had a week to make hay last year. The one 5-day window we did have, we couldn't cut all the ground we wanted as we knew we couldn't get it all baled - the contractors were spread far too thin. We made precisely 58 small bales, and a hundred or so big round bales but everything else had to be silage. And most of that got late and wet, damaging the fields baling and fetching it in.
There're silage bales waiting in fields we can't get to - we don't need that silage yet, but we did want the field for the ponies to have a change of scene around about now. Can't be done, so they're getting hay in their swamp. We haven't got enough small bale hay to last, so pretty soon I'm going to be wrestling with swathes off the large round bales - not fun.
It so could be worse, though, and we just have to hold onto that. That, and the old one about weather coming in 7-year cycles - which means one more wet one and then hopefully it'll change... :fc:
-
No, you're wrong Suziequeue. The rain doesn't target Llanidloes. My OH has been telling me for months that it always heads straight for us in Somerset. We moved here in April and it has done nothing but rain ever since.
The squelchiness of the land makes it really difficult to do anything outside, and there is so much that needs doing!
-
Not even just in Wales - Central Scotland is clay, wet and miserable too. I've decided raised beds on a hardcore and gravel base is the only way to grow anything here. Next job is to net them all so the pigeons don't nick everything! ::) :huff:
-
So great to hear it's not just me then :D
I have started to take it personally and feel that we've failed somehow:
* failed to get the land properly drained (on our "if we win the lottery" list!)
* failed to really notice when we bought the property that it was on the north side of a hill on heavy clay
* failed to use our common sense re: growing veg (i.e. DON'T DO IT!!!)
* failed to carry on regardless and not let the weather get me down.
Mind you - we have just had a really good morning chipping the brash from last month's hedge laying efforts with only a couple of small showers.
Am now off to cut the yellow leaves off the cabbages. ;D ;D
-
Come to Sunny Devon where it rains eight days out of seven! I have a large shed ordered to fill with straw to put wet,muddy dogs in until clean and dry. Why didn't I think of that before :dunce: :dunce:
The only thing we can do is endure. Spring WILL come and dry sunny weather, then all this will be behind us and we'll be praying for rain ;D ;D
Not long to go now so, collective chins up and best feet forward to Spring :) :) :sunshine: :sunshine:
-
and just imagine if you weren't a smallholder with all these trifles that bother you it could be worse(yes really).........
For example you could be siting in an townie shoebox looking out of the window at the rain wishing you were a smallholder... :innocent:
-
;D brilliant, well said. We're up to the eyeballs in it too and I have questioned my lifestyle, but the grass isn't greener on the other side when there isn't any grass ;D
-
The grass isn't greener on the other side when there isn't any grass ;D
I like that - a lot :thumbsup:
It's wet here - on the dry east side. But it's draining slowly - I can see the grass again, under the water.
-
It's very wet in suffolk too. :raining: but you're right spring is on its way and the days are starting to lengthen :sunshine: remember we all do this for the rewards it brings not because it's the easiest life we could live. :hug:
-
I am so pissed off with this rain , words can't express , well they can , but even i am running out of swear words .
I am nearly permanently wet , up to my arse in shite and mud and if summer came in ten minutes time i would still be cheesed off .
But today i was feeding the dogs at 4.30pm and it was still daylight ! A week ago it was nigh on pitch black at that time .
Just those few extra minutes of daylight make so much difference . It won't stop me moaning about the rain , but at least i won't be tempted to sit in the bath with the toaster etc as Doug said . Mind you , i haven't got a bath . Still , standing in the f ecking yard , knee deep in liquid crap would have the same result .
The other day i got so wet i had to empty my wellies 3 times on the walk home from the land .
Another day i lost my rag whilst pulling tiny , stupid , poxy , arseholing handfulls of haylage , when the obvious happened , one handful came out easy , i slipped and went arse over tit straight into a puddle of liquid mud .
In my wellies , down my neck , up my arse , in my ears , it went everywhere . Woops oh dear , i went f ecking mental ! Not a good day .
Coat , jeans , wellies knickers , the lot , washed in the river and back on .
God , what a ghastly pic that would have been .
I am sure the horses were smirking when i came back up from the river , bastards .
Yes it has to stop raining soon , but it is STILL RAINING NOW !!!
Just going for a walk with the toaster , the Smiths are on the radio , bom bom , bom bom bom bom . Bzzzzzzzzzzzz .
Bugger , even that didn't work , the leccy went off !
-
Oh dear - compared to your problems mine are minimal.
It really annoys me that even now I keep finding slugs in my kitchen... Don't know how they manage to squeeze in under the door, but they do. >:( Better check that they aren't eating the last of my chard and kale out there!
-
Russ, you do make me laugh. I should find all your funny posts and make a little book "Life of Russ" ;D
-
We are at 800 ft and our land slopes steeply. Wouldn't have thought it possible for it to get so wet :o ??? . It is just squishy ..... water oozes up through the grass as you walk.
An elderly neighbour at about 1000ft told me that for 51 years he has been able to say he had a dry farm but not this year ! ..... even his fields are sodden.
Think everyone must be in the same .... BOAT.
OOHHHH ...... just think back to those distant days of drought. :roflanim:
-
Look on the bright side suzieQ , knowing where the springs come up could be to your advantage in water supply and in laying drains.
Perhaps mark each source with a tall white marker post and accurately mark it on a big scale map of your homestead in readines for planning your drainage .
-
I would follow Tiz's suggestion but I don't have a TV to watch Eastenders.
I can't see how there can possibly be any more rain up there. Roll on summer.
-
There could be another 6 inches of it from now till 23.59 hrs new years eve apparently . We certainly got our big wheel barrow filled since 18 0.. yesterday till 18 .00 ish today .
-
And then how much after midnight?
-
Hi all,i ve enjoyed reading your rants and although it is not at all nice what you have had to put up with.I like many others would love to be in your poistion,but the nearest i ve got is 2 allotments on a priate site,so i have one plot in which i grow my fruit and veg and the other plot is where my 8 chickens and Sam the Harlequin x cockral live,plus my 2 Berkshire weaners are on order(not born til feb next)and im still trying to buy a couple of pygmy goats.It would be a dream come true to lay my hands on few acers of land round the city of Sheffield,but unless my numbers come up then i dont suppose i ever will.So may i wish you all a happy and drier new year and keep positive.....
-
I have streams running through the field where there shouldn't streams. :gloomy: :gloomy:
Apparently its the wettest year on record for England but only the 5th wettest for Wales. I can't believe that. I didn't hear a mention of Scotland so don't know where they stand.
The forecast is for a dry few days in the new year. I hope they are right.
Sally
-
Poor Russ, I can hear "White Rabbit :bunny: playing from here"
We have no problems other than them horrid slugs, stopped them in the bedroom now, our house is build on the ground and there are voids everywhere so that's where we think they come up from, nothing worse than getting out of bed for a wee and treading on a slug...anyway, I put salt all around and under the carpet and no more, they are possibly all fried under the carpet now.....
Our chickens are fine too, all the gravel is dry and drains away so great, not so good for dog walking and my expensive wellies had a hole as soon as I bought them due to the forestry putting down huge stones ready for the big machinery, anyway, I have more boots now.
We are hoping to move one day but this house is good for being in a dry spot, it still rains but it all drains well here...just need a better coat when I have some more savings, anyway, it certainly made me cross a few houses of my wish list, one must be flooded all the time now.......its sold as well !!!!
For those who grow stuff and keep animals, at least we have not had the bad frost YET and not too sure if too much rain is worse than too little!! anyway, hope 2013 has the perfect weather for us all!!
-
Ok, next time I am even tempted to whinge about the rain and mud, and getting wet whilst feeding sheep, I will remember Russ having to wash his clothes in the river and put them back on :o Yuk and brrrrr!
-
Rusty,I worry about you!! What do you have by way of heating? I know it's difficult to keep dry and, sometimes, it's easier to sit in wet,muddy clothes and lose yourself in a book,its almost like hibernating, but do you have nowhere at all where you can dry out wet things?
I hate asking even close family for this favour when my clothes are caked with mud and I can easily swish things out in a bucket(having no river nearby :D ) but it's the drying that's the problem.
Absolutely NONE of my family mind,I know, but I still hate asking :( :(
I've been racking my brains to figure out a drying shed but have come up with nothing.
Anyway my man, you keep well and as comfortable as you can. We need you on here and would miss you sorely if you were ill. :) :)
-
I suppose you could go to the nearest supermarket and stand under the hand dryers for a while!!! I know a lot of people used to go to the library but supermarkets are good now, warm with toilets on hand and you do not have to be quiet!!!
I am not sure how you can get anything dry without a dryer or heat of some sort!! :gloomy:
-
One solution I've come up with is to do all outside jobs naked :eyelashes: You could wear just a plastic mac to keep the worst of the cold off and in case you had a caller and swoosh down under the hose when you've finished. I might try this tomorrow. It has to be more comfortable than soaking wet clothes!!
-
I once tried drying wellies, having waded through a flood, under a hand dryer. It overheated long before they were dry and I had to wait a while before i could continue. Plus I wasn't very popular with other people who washed their hands but couldn't dry them since I'd knackered the dryer.
Sylvia if you have a plastic mac wouldn't that keep your cothes dry? I used to have a set of water-proofs when I did more outside stuff. The main problem was sweating inside them, which makes you wet anyway (and smelly).
-
MGM,I wore waterproofs today and came indoors with them covered in mud and a soaked jumper and shirt where the rain had run down my neck. The insides of my leggings were wet up to the knees so soggy trousers as well and no way of drying them :'( :'( The driving rain gets in no matter how well got up you think you are
So, I shall try my experiment tomorrow and let you know if it makes life easier or not. (I think I'll keep my knickers on though ;D ;D )
-
Too cold for only a waterproof :o
Oilskins seem to be the only truly waterproof gear, used to be able to buy them down the docks in Grimsby where I lived, don't know now where they'd come from. But they're very heavy for doing much work in.
Now I have the standard rubberised farmers' trousers as stocked by our feedstore, but they quickly stop being waterproof round the knees. I'm still using up Goretex coats people have found in charity shops for me - but I don't think any of them are properly waterproof now either :P
-
I've been racking my brains to figure out a drying shed but have come up with nothing.
Super weirdo to the rescue!!!!
EITHER (this is so good you have 2 options ;D )
Get a greenhouse from freecycle (I got dibs on one, if you need it and I get it you can have it) Remove one HALF pane from one side at the bottom (unless its a posh one with vents in which case just open the vent) and one half pane from the top on the opposite side. Hang up washing line and washing.
OR get yourself another shed from freecycle and line one end with insulation topped with tin (think dead washing machines for the tin) lay down a couple of slabs and stick in a wood burner (easily made from an old gas bottle). Hang up washing line and washing (keeping well away from the birner and stack pipe).
-
All below water level here on the Hampshire downs, suggested to the park game keeper that they stock mallards instead of pheasant next year as it is the trout are migrating up my pig field from the Test. Ache all over from the constant strawing pigs and wild boar, wish I had some plaster of paris for when I took a spill over the electric fence with feed bucket in hand, and left an impressive face print in the mud!! Had more "out of welly experiences" than I care to count, and having to unblock the wet feeding tanker in the middle of the pig field left me looking like some mudman out of a horror film. Todays' wind didn't help comfort either, one poor hen laid the same egg three times, so much for free range being higher welfare. The sheep are on the better drained hills and not too badly off all considering, the Angus and Herefords are all equally muddy so not much to distinguish between them at present, only the dairy Buffalo are living the life of Riley in their barn on quality hay and silage, still it could be worse, I could be in an OFFICE!! :relief:
-
a proper set of bib n braces off a fisherman is what you need. my set are an essential bit of kit here. dont tuck them into your wellies tho!
-
Hi,
Mountain warehouse do some great waterproofs, not too expensive, and they don't make you wet and sweaty inside them, only downside is you have to wash them in special waterproofing stuff, got some waterproof gloves from them earlier in the year, and can highly recommend them, not too thick, so can do most jobs without having to take them off.
Regards
Sue
-
How about somebody designing a Barbour Onesie? :excited:
-
Why not wear drysuits?
-
How about somebody designing a Barbour Onesie? :excited:
:o :o :love: :love: :love:
I NEED one of those!!
-
How about somebody designing a Barbour Onesie? :excited:
:o :o :love: :love: :love:
I NEED one of those!!
Make sure they put in a bum flap, preferably with a zip... I never wore boiler suits for work as it is so difficult to get out of them when you - ergh - need to get out of them in a hurry! A lot worse when you are cold, wet and have very stiff fingers with the constant immersion in water.
-
No need to worry about me Sylvia , i am fine thanks . I have heating in the caravan here , but if i dry anything more than a t shirt , water ends up pouring down the walls and everything goes damp and mouldy . So i just wear clothes till they dry .
I just wear an old waxed cotton coat , shirt , jeans , knickers and socks . It all dries very quickly , and isn't half as bad as it sounds .
This is the worst year ever for drying , it just hasn't let up , as you all know .
A 50 mile round trip , £10 fare and all day to do it ,to get to the supermarket , isn't really on Sandy lol . There are nearer , smaller sm's but take just as long to get there and back as there is no bus servis here , have to book a link , bloody nightmare .
If i did the 6 mile round trip walk to the land naked in just a mac , i think i would end up getting nicked ! lol .
Waterproofs just make me sweat and overheat , plus they wear out very fast and i don't have the money to buy them.
There really is no need to worry though , i am asolutely fine . I am dry and warm as toast when i settle down in the evening . Although i was a bit chilly when the went down to -20c last winter .
But it was 12c when i washed my clothes in the river the other day , it felt like the tropics !
I do that as a general thing in the summer , but it is usually dry and warm then .
I often wonder how the weirdo's (said tongue in cheek , i know they aren't all weird !) in towns would cope with my way of life ?
It can be a struggle at times , but mainly i cope ok , except when i go arse over tit into a bottomless lagoon of dilute mud , well it was 6" deep actually .
I couldn't stand up properley , so rolled over and got onto hands and knees and was trying , like bambi , to stand up , when the hood of the waxed coat swung round and landed on my head . Trouble was , it was full of liquid mud !
I looked like the creature from the black lagoon !
The river water was full of colour , but cleaner than the mud i was caked in .
-
I love the idea of a onesie but NOT with hot flushes...too hard to escape from.........I get too hot in a bedroom thats colder than outside!!!
-
If i did the 6 mile round trip walk to the land naked in just a mac , i think i would end up getting nicked ! lol .
Admit it, Russ, you're just scared the bunny boiler will happen along while the mac is all you're wearing.
-
Hey Rus - there's always that lady in her big warm 4x4. I'll she'd be happy to towel you down ;) ;D ::) :roflanim: :roflanim:
-
I love the idea of a onesie but NOT with hot flushes...too hard to escape from.........I get too hot in a bedroom thats colder than outside!!!
Been there done that etc. It does come to an end, though you think it never will.
Well,just come in from feeding pigs and giving dogs their feeds wearing,not a plastic mac. as I couldn't find one, but a wheely bin liner with holes cut out for head and arms and tied around with baler twine. Result ----I came in cold but dry(no rain this morning) and only a bit of mud on my arm. No muddy leggings to try to dry out.
I can only do this living where I am i.e. no-one around to see me.
Rusty take a wheelie bin liner with you to your land and change when you get there you'll have dry clothes to walk home in then.
-
Collie Woman thank you for your suggestions and kind offer, they gave me an idea. I remembered that I have a generator hidden at the back of the old caravan, hidden under straw bales. I know it works because the boy up the road used to use it for shearing my sheep. I will set it up by the dogs shed and get myself a plug-in radiator. That will serve two purposes, keeping dogs warm and drying clothes. So I'm sorted-- in theory anyway.
Can anyone see any pit-falls, make any suggestions spot any dangers etc.
-
A portable gas fire would be cheaper to run than a petrol genny .
By the time i get to the land i am usually soaked to the skin anyway mate , i can keep out of the worst of the rain when i am down the land , but walking to and from it is a bit different .
I very rarely feel cold . And i can be dry in an hour after a complete soaking . If i am cold though , i change asap into dry clothes . I have been doing this so long now it is just normal everyday life .
I do moan about it i know , but i moan if it gets to sunny and hot also .
Out of interest , which bin liner do you prefer ?, the black goth look or a pink see through recycling number ? lol .
-
Rusty, I've just realised you must be a witch. According to Terry Pratchett they dry out very quickly, and don't feel the cold... ;D
-
Lol , could be right Ina.
I don't like bbq's , burning steaks and all that !
-
Real witches never got burnt...
And as a witch you need the black bin liner, of course. Witches don't wear anything but black (well, apart from Tiffany Aching, and maybe Magrat...)
-
When I first moved up here I thought the same, Sylvia and Russ - don't mind getting wet, walking or working will keep you warm until you get indoors, and then if it's warm enough let the clothes dry on you, or otherwise take them off, dry off and put on dry clothes. Sorted.
Then I moved up here. BH looked at me quizzically when I said the above. I soon learned - when it's wet here it's usually, and in winter and late autumn always, cold and wet. Mind- and finger-numbing cold wet that no amount of body heat generated through work will overcome. My reaction to the plastic mac / bin liner idea was initially the same as jaykay's - we're both in Cumbria, the idea of going outdoors in nothing but a plastic mac in winter is insane. Then I remembered that Sylvia and Russ are both down south, and I remembered routinely going down to let my chickens out wearing only a waterproof coat and wellies... I do miss the warmth of the Exmoor climate, I have to say. But boy, do I know a lot more now about how to keep oneself warm!
-
please to bear in mind that whilst russ and sylvia do live in more southerly climes, they are both getting on for being 100 years of age. :eyelashes:
-
please to bear in mind that whilst russ and sylvia do live in more southerly climes, they are both getting on for being 100 years of age. :eyelashes:
Combined age, he forgot to mention. ;D
-
please to bear in mind that whilst russ and sylvia do live in more southerly climes, they are both getting on for being 100 years of age. :eyelashes:
Oh! You bugger you ;D ;D
-
Rusty, I've just realised you must be a witch. According to Terry Pratchett they dry out very quickly, and don't feel the cold... ;D
OMG you're right!!
Russ is in fact Granny Weatherwax :o :roflanim: :roflanim:
-
Sylvia, I would reckon on one of those upright halogen heaters rather than a radiator to run off a genny.
They are instantly warm, the dogs think they are a real fire and curl up in front of them, they have safety cut off's and cost about 8p an hour to run off the mains :thumbsup:
-
but they only work on radiant heat, ie only stuff in direct sight of them feels warm, they dont actually warm the air, which is what you need to dry clothes.
-
I always think they are just a photo of a fire stuck on a plastic box :-DD the laminate flooring equivalent of heaters heee hee!! :excited:
-
haha dont get me started on laminate flooring. cardboard with 3mm wood on top covered in plastic, horrible stuff, solid pine floorboards are cheaper, easier to fit, warming and look nice. i refuse jobs to fit the stuff now.
-
Well past the halfway mark to 100 myself now , but feel much older . I hate to think how i will feel in another 10 years time . (I know , the same as i do now , with my hands ! lol) .
-
I was thinking a radiator would be a safer option in a straw filled shed. I don't mind the cost of petrol as heating is a priority to me, more for the dogs sake though and as I have no rent, council tax etc. I can afford it.
I was thinking about safety though. How far from the caravans/shed would I have to site the generator? What sort of cable would I need? And any other issues anyone can think of?
-
Might this work for your situation? Run a hot water radator from compost generated heated water;
http://www.permaculture.co.uk/videos/500-showers-heated-one-small-compost-pile-how-tutorial?utm_source=GraphicMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=NewsletterLink&utm_campaign=newsletter-2666-Dec-2012&utm_content (http://www.permaculture.co.uk/videos/500-showers-heated-one-small-compost-pile-how-tutorial?utm_source=GraphicMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=NewsletterLink&utm_campaign=newsletter-2666-Dec-2012&utm_content)=
-
The genny would just need to go as far away as need be for the noise factor . Also remember exhaust fumes and heat too .
The genny needs to be capable of producing more power than you will want to use ie , no good having a 600 watt genny if the heater you want to use is a 1000 watts . The other way round would be ok .
Anything over 1000 watts , you want heavy duty cable , not thin white lighting stuff.
If you overload leccy cable it overheats and can melt and cause a short or catch fire .
Not a good idea to have it laying on the ground either , so you start talking fixed armoured cable . Either underground or above head height .
The other option is to move to a desert . Mind you , if you do that Tony B liar or David Cameldung may invade you and kill you for the weapons of mass destruction that you will be making in your shed !
-
but they only work on radiant heat, ie only stuff in direct sight of them feels warm, they dont actually warm the air, which is what you need to dry clothes.
I dunno in a small space it's like having your own personal sun :sunshine: :sunshine:
But then I'm quite hot anyway :-J :innocent: ;D
-
Wind driven car alternators with batteries and a couple of head light units wired in parallel could provide a small heat source of 100 watts for dry clothes hung inside a tall box /wardrobe afair .
wired in parallel . It has a small 5 amp caravan charging relay that drops out when there is no charge to the batteries to stop you running them down to a dead short or a low battery voltage that will not charge.
There is a thing called an " Olieus " (sp ) wind generator . Link provide they call it something different.
It's an oil drum type barrel of metal or plastic cut in half top to bottom and bolted to a verticle rotating axle . The alternator is driven from a mounting frame set over the top via a bearing end pulley and fan belt , the voltage is run by local cables to the battery and the head lights add a switch to the headlights to turn of when not needed and really get the battery /ies topped up.
Ok there is no light when the wind does not blow but otherwise it's a winner Savonius VAWT 2 stage oil drum wind turbine. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq9N_6j5GjU#)
There are several ways iof supporting the " vanes "
-
That looks very clever.
-
The compost thingy looks very do-able. What an interesting site.