What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12

[Peter]

[quote=Peter post_id=240461 time=<a href="tel:1744144393">1744144393</a> user_id=8717]
A good stabiliser extends life to more than 2 years without any problems

I use Mountfields universal stabiliser, so I don’t have to mess about so much

Thanks, but that adds £1 a litre to my cost!!!!!
I'd only want to pay up to about 1/4 of that

Sounds like I'll need to get a grip on rotation.
[/quote]

Not a £1 a litre, maybe £1 a jerrycan, it’s “fit and forget”.

And no messing about .

[Frnc]

Gardener's been. Did 3.5 hours. Seems to have done a good job. There was an overgrown honeysuckle growing along several metres of my fence. He's cut it right back at the bottom, so I'm not sure how the top bit will stay alive, but they are pretty hard to kill. I presume he knows what he's doing. Garden looks a lot better now. I might get an apple tree from Sainsbury's if they still have them.

[mcprepper]

Fruit trees sound a great idea if you have space - I think you need to check the apple tree is self-fertile if you’re only getting one and you’re hoping for fruit? Otherwise you need another compatible one for them to cross-pollinate? I don’t claim to be an expert on this, just looked into it once! Enjoy the newly tidied garden!

Productive week here. All seed potatoes planted, leeks, spring onions and radishes planted. Big pot of nasturtium seeds planted (edible and look nice). Food rotation checked. Stored water used on a very dry garden and bottles etc re-filled. Hens settled in well and laying prolifically.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Just finishing putting my potatoes in the soil is lovely and dry and not donkey work to earth up

[Frnc]

Looks like honeysuckle is dying fast. Gardener cut all the bottom half off, so there's no means for top half to survive. I'll text him on Monday and see what he says. It's not the end of the world, but if he starts saying it's not his fault, or wanting more money to get rid of it, I think I'll tell him I no longer need him. If he realises his mistake and admits it, maybe I'll keep him on. Does that sound about right?

[GillyBee]

If he sliced through the honeysuckle and it wasn't a planned task and the reaction is not: "Sorry. I cut/pruned it right back and forgot to clear down the top half" then I would doubt his competence. Either he was being careless or incompetent if he cuts a plant in half without a plan.

[Frnc]

If he sliced through the honeysuckle and it wasn't a planned task and the reaction is not: "Sorry. I cut/pruned it right back and forgot to clear down the top half" then I would doubt his competence. Either he was being careless or incompetent if he cuts a plant in half without a plan.

Yeah, doesn't inspire confidence. Think I'll leave it a few days and text saying my circumstances have changed and I won't need him anymore. Almost all the green bits are wilted. If he'd cut them off, but left some stalks growing out of the ground, it would grow back. I asked him to remove 50%, but I didn't mean all from the bottom, so the top dies!

[Frnc]

Went through all my last 15 months gas and electricity payments and bills. Tidied up the spreadsheet, so it added them all up. Came to what it should do. I'm £90 in credit now, after this month's direct debit, but before this month's bill, so probably a bit in debt if you include that, but it's not bad for just after the winter. My gas use has been minimal recently anyway.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Had a rearrangement of fire extinguishers around the house now better tailored to the risks..

6l stainless steel foam extinguisher by the front door buddies with a 2kg abc powder extinguisher..
. That happily covers the gas and leccy meters down the side of the house plus wheelie bins and cars out front and powder for the bio ethanol stove in the lounge foam doesn't work on ethanol......


Kitchen is a 3l multi foam for cooking fires plus a 3l water mist which covers all bases too including the fuse box and electric cooker ......

Upstairs is a small 2l multi class foam on the upstairs landing chosen for it's small size but big power (decent fire rating)

And I've a stainless 9l water by my bed plus another 9l water in the wardrobe water might be old technology but it works and needs very little clean up and we don't have any flammable liquids Upstairs bar little misses nail Polish collection


The playhouse half way up the garden is now sporting the warranty replacement firexo unit after the failed unit I'd be lying if I said I trusted it to work .. but it's half way up the garden near the bbq the kids are old enough to know not to mess now and the 8 year old is proficient in their use he has had a go with the remaining contents of a foam extinguisher after the bedroom fire on a real fire in the garden fire pit ...

Then the shed the lean to has a 6kg powder extinguisher easily accessible since it's not locked

Then inside the shed there's a 6l foam. 2kg co2 and 2x 6kg powder plus a 2kg automatic extinguisher on the roof

Cars each have a 2kg powder at the moment will be swapping to foam after the last forecast cold snap

Overkill yes but should shtf can you bargain on the fire service having the resources to attend in a timely manner

[Medusa]

Planted out beetroot, courgette, carrots and brocolli, covering them at night for now just in case. Planted the baby cucumbers in grow bags in the greenhouse, tomatoes and peppers seem a bit slow this year. The ground here is very dry at the moment so having to water everything most nights. Collected a trailer full of logs yesterday which are no longer needed, we will have to split but they are pretty much seasoned. Theres at least another trailer load for us to collect but between those and the pallets we still need to chop we have no room. Next job is to replace some of the fencing panels and then get a bigger shed.