Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: the veggie plot.  (Read 196351 times)

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #60 on: February 25, 2008, 08:56:24 pm »
Guy, remind me - what kind of magic machine did you buy?

Guy

  • Joined Feb 2008
  • East Devon
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #61 on: February 25, 2008, 10:52:14 pm »
hey Russ - i remember the sun and the nice weather - it was a while ago now though :D - i reckon 20' 0f digging is enough for anyone!!

well done Linz - hope yer feeling better?

Evening Rosemary - my magic machine is a "Mantis" tiller the 4-stroke version www.mantis-uk.co.uk is the website
relax and enjoy life - let others do the worrying

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #62 on: February 26, 2008, 05:35:19 pm »
apart from a bit breezy at times , it was a lovely day here today . Sun all day ,nice and warm ,almost, dare I say it ...like spring !!! Oh god... thats it, black clouds will roll over and torrential rain for a month now.....Still , it was a good day on the plot today. I got about 6'x20' dug today, although I didn't carry any stone up to the track . I am at that point now, where I am nearer the end, than the beginning of the main digging . Phew what  a relief.....I really do hate digging .....Mind you ..there is the area for the grain to be dug over yet , thats about 35'x70'....and the rest of the comfrey bed...and the jerusalem artichoke bed....."oh shut up Russ"....that has just scared me silly.....as all that is fresh untouched ground....it is like concrete....and all that stone , still, the black hole will soon swallow all of that ....( after I carry it up the hill !!) I will take some photos of the plot, when I have got all the grass and weed out of it !!

Guy

  • Joined Feb 2008
  • East Devon
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #63 on: February 26, 2008, 08:16:02 pm »
bloomin' 'eck Russ - you've scared me now!!! i feel a real whimp for buying the "mantis" for my little area!! :Dp.s. like the spinning wheel pics!
relax and enjoy life - let others do the worrying

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #64 on: February 26, 2008, 08:44:13 pm »
lol..... well if that scares you how about this then ....In William Cobbetts Cottage Economy ( still one of the best smallholders books available) , he states that a good man should be able to dig 12 rods per day , the rod as an area, as he used it there was 16'6"x16'6" so thats one hell of a lot of digging (198'x16'6"). Also the type of digging he was talking about was double digging   :o :o and it was also 12 rods per day EVERY day....I just dig for a max of an hour (more like 30 minutes) though .....I want to be able to walk the next day .... ;D

Fluffywelshsheep

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Near Stirling, Central Scotland
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #65 on: February 26, 2008, 08:53:22 pm »
u guys are making me tired  just talking about it lol

Guy

  • Joined Feb 2008
  • East Devon
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #66 on: February 26, 2008, 09:40:57 pm »
well , either im not a good man-or..................our friend william is mad!!! :D - alas, its not down to me to make the distinction!!! sounds like a good book though (and not for the comedy value!) - i guess its difficult for me to quantify that kind of work load whilst working full-time. its all about routine / time and method i guess (not that i believe i could dig that amount ,work nonwithstanding  :))

dont worry about it linz - the time for talking is over........its time for action (well maybe tomorrow ;))
relax and enjoy life - let others do the worrying

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #67 on: February 27, 2008, 01:35:34 pm »
William Cobbett wrote Cottage Economy in about 1821 but the basics about looking after and feeding animals are as good today as they were then . Also, if like me, you want to do things a more simple way (that doesn't mean less work though !) without just chucking money at it , then he tells how to do things the old way ... but when he wrote it , it was just THE way to do it. The book is really funny in places too . The section about tea making as opposed to beer drinking (small beer that was very weak) , is hilarious. What makes it even funnier is he is deadly serious.....On the whole it is well worth getting a copy ,another good one he wrote is his ' Rural Rides ' very interesting !!! It covers him on rides all over England, as was at that time . All the sowing harvesting and ploughing and general life he encountered , it is a direct insight to what life was like ( as he saw it ) at the time, fantastic , I read both on a regular basis. Below are a few links, about him and the two books :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cobbett
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/contents_page.jsp?t_id=Cobbett
http://www.archive.org/details/cottageeconomyco00cobbrich
 
cheers

Russ

Hilbillie

  • Joined Feb 2008
  • St. Mayeux, Brittany
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #68 on: February 27, 2008, 03:54:56 pm »
It seems the Breton countryfolk live to a ripe old age, they have a very healthy lifestyle with lots of fresh air, good food etc.  Well last year we noticed the farmer who lived up the road out digging over a plot of land, about 10' x 20'.  It took him 2 days to dig over the whole thing and we were very impressed, it was very hot at the time as well.  A day or two later we noticed his property was taped off and there were gendarmes wandering around.  We later heard he had dropped dead - obviously he wasnt a "good man"!
Hilary

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #69 on: February 27, 2008, 04:16:05 pm »
 :o :o poor bugger....lol... oops sorry..shouldn't laugh...still, maybe I am writing this from veggie plot heaven ?  having already keeled over after turning one sod too many ? Nope just pinched myself, I am still here !!!      I just hope I wake up ok tomoroow now !!!, as I dug an area about 5'x20' today.....Lovely day again , funny how much difference the weather makes to how much work I do ......I make a point though of NOT digging when it is very hot . I could dig all day when I were a lad...( the faint sound of the hovis music plays in the background !!) eeee it were grand ...., but these days I just do 30 -60 minutes a day . I do other things as well , but just a short time digging ....I think I may have said before ...I HATE DIGGING ..... ;D ;D But I do love the smell of freshly dug soil at this time of year...same as gentle spring rain mmmmmm I can smell it now as I write...luverly.....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TOWJECdobqk&feature=related
 
ahhhh back in the good ole days when they made real adverts...( with real butta ) ;D ;D
« Last Edit: February 27, 2008, 04:37:18 pm by rustyme »

Hilbillie

  • Joined Feb 2008
  • St. Mayeux, Brittany
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #70 on: February 27, 2008, 05:29:41 pm »
 ;D hahahaha nitwit!
Hilary

Guy

  • Joined Feb 2008
  • East Devon
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #71 on: February 27, 2008, 06:44:33 pm »
Are you sure the sun hasnt got to you today Russ? and was that you on the bike??lol :D - think i will have to pick up a copy of that book though................... :'( rip breton farmer
relax and enjoy life - let others do the worrying

Francis Bacon

  • Joined Jan 2008
  • Belabre, France
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #72 on: February 27, 2008, 07:59:59 pm »
Absolutley Brilliant Russ  ;D ;D ;D Made me chuckle
Donna
I Love mornings - I just wish they came later in the day!

Fluffywelshsheep

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Near Stirling, Central Scotland
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #73 on: February 27, 2008, 08:11:39 pm »
all this talk of digging has made me thrist
am off for a cuppa
be back soon lol
and i'll tell you all what i have done today

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: the veggie plot.
« Reply #74 on: February 27, 2008, 08:22:23 pm »
two sugars in mine please Linz  ;D ;D ;D

 

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