What Preps are you doing this week? Part 10

[GillyBee]

From my reading, straw bales need to be treated for a few weeks before planting with a fast acting high nitrogen fertiliser and plenty of water to get them to start to break down. Some people use urine for this pupose, others use a commercial lawn fertiliser.

https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/kickst ... le-garden/

You now have me wondering if they would work anywhere in my little plot or the greenhouse.

[Frnc]

Took phone holder off bike handlebar, never used, expensive waste of dosh. I keep my phone in my pannier. Took one bottle cage off, which was on handlebars. I could re-fit that in a couple of minutes. First bike ride of the year. Used new bluetooth earphones. They disconnect from the music if I leave it too long, no biggie, just have to get it playing just before I set off. 8° but 'feels like' temp 5 or 6. Wore my warmest bike gloves. Fingertips were a bit cold for the first half hour. Rest of me was about right. I keep notes of what I wear for different weather. Right side arse bone was a bit painful at times, most off the time really. Winter tights are a bit big for me, I need to remember to adjust the padding. Chopped a bit off the route by accident. Was quite warm for the last few miles, but not overly. I can reward myself now with Quorn pie for tea, yum yum.

[Nurseandy]

From my reading, straw bales need to be treated for a few weeks before planting with a fast acting high nitrogen fertiliser and plenty of water to get them to start to break down. Some people use urine for this pupose, others use a commercial lawn fertiliser.

https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/kickst ... le-garden/

You now have me wondering if they would work anywhere in my little plot or the greenhouse.

Live in the country- no neighbours in direct sight, treating bales with urine I can do

[Nurseandy]

Making more raised beds here, have six, planning another four. Starting to run out of material to fill them so contemplating putting a straw bale in and planting into that (you make a series of small holes in the bale, fill them with compost and plant away). Never tried it but it appears to be an accepted way of growing.
Also looking at ways to cover the beds to turn them into cloches to get a head start on the weather.
Oh, and of course process some firewood, tinker with my motorbike then forge community links by watching the rugby at a neighbours with a few beers.

compost is £stupid. But check out the range and aldi. Spuds supposedly work ok in a mostly straw bed. God only knows where they get nutrients from.
This is how I converted my planter into a cloche poly tent. 20 mm electric pipe softened into how shape over a heater.
https://uk-preppers.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 00#p209199

Cheers jenny, a bit more involved than I was thinking. My beds are ~30" deep and I've deliberately not filled them to the top to protect the plants from the wind. I was thinking to maybe just lay a sheet of some sort of clear rigid plastic over the top to keep the heat in.

[diamond lil]

Old windows Nurseandy, even I found them easy to get hold of... or maybe perspex?

[Yorkshire Andy]

Bought myself a battery heat gun in Lidl today I've got a pile of batteries but why....


Deicing the boiler condensate pipe

Thawing out frozen padlocks

Are the 2 immediate reasons plus with the chickens
their water drinker which ices up

Along with Warming stubborn nuts and bolts / heat shrink on electrical stuff

Oh and I had a fiver off voucher so it cost me £20

[Frnc]

Got a mains operated hair dryer to dry my feet. I still need to touch them a little bit with one hand, to pull the smallest two toes apart, but I don't need to use any kind of towel. Saves washing microfibre cloths. I put one nitrile disposable glove on to pull my toes apart. I keep it on and use it to apply cream to treat this infection. Hopefully it will cure my athelete's foot at the same time. Keep it on to put the socks into a washing up bowl ready to soak in Halo. Bin the glove. Not very eco but it's only for 2 weeks.

Checked out average minimum temperatures for months of the year. March is the same as November, so I'll leave the C/H on and tweak (off/down) during the day. April is in between October and November, so I'll probably leave it on for the first two weeks and then it's OFF completely until November.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/c ... -averages/ Select Average Graphs then Minimum Temperature.
This is my first year with a thermostat (new boiler) so it's all new to me.

[preppermike]

Financial, misc, food and water preps this week

Plotted out my current retirement forecast and mortgage payments, I've been topping up my YBS Christmas E-Saver each payday, I always over spend at Christmas so hopefully this year it'll be less of a financial hit.

I also realised I don't have any re-chargeable batteries, so bought a pack of Amazon Basics ones, they seem ok.

Topped up the single use super glue, pack of 5, it's really handy. As the full size tubes tends to go off as I rarely use it.

Also planted some radish, sweet peppers and my potatoes are almost ready, but not sure if it's too early to plant them in the bags.

Rotated my water preps - I usually keep 75l of bottled water. A few are well past the Best before date, so I'll use those up to water the indoor plants or to fill the kettle. So in real terms I'm down to 50l. I'll pick some more up this week.

And finally, the water butt I repaired seems to be holding! Joined it to a second water butt, I have around 200l now. Not sure I'd want to use it for drinking but good for watering the veg patch or washing hands / clothes / flushing toilet etc in a SHTF.

[jennyjj01]

I also realised I don't have any re-chargeable batteries, so bought a pack of Amazon Basics ones, they seem ok.

Try LADDA AA cells from Ikea. They're great value eneloops.

Rotated my water preps - I usually keep 75l of bottled water. A few are well past the Best before date, so I'll use those up to water the indoor plants or to fill the kettle. So in real terms I'm down to 50l. I'll pick some more up this week.

And finally, the water butt I repaired seems to be holding! Joined it to a second water butt, I have around 200l now. Not sure I'd want to use it for drinking but good for watering the veg patch or washing hands / clothes / flushing toilet etc in a SHTF.

I wouldn't worry about BBE on water. Some are concerned about chemicals leaching from the bottles, but I doubt it.

[preppermike]

I also realised I don't have any re-chargeable batteries, so bought a pack of Amazon Basics ones, they seem ok.

Try LADDA AA cells from Ikea. They're great value eneloops.

Rotated my water preps - I usually keep 75l of bottled water. A few are well past the Best before date, so I'll use those up to water the indoor plants or to fill the kettle. So in real terms I'm down to 50l. I'll pick some more up this week.

And finally, the water butt I repaired seems to be holding! Joined it to a second water butt, I have around 200l now. Not sure I'd want to use it for drinking but good for watering the veg patch or washing hands / clothes / flushing toilet etc in a SHTF.

I wouldn't worry about BBE on water. Some are concerned about chemicals leaching from the bottles, but I doubt it.

Yea - it's kept in a dry place away from strong odours etc. Should be fine but I do like to keep it rotated to get into the habit of doing so with my other preps.