... the sky is baby blue, and the just-unfurling leaves ...

Latest Articles

... the sky is baby blue, and the just-unfurling leaves ...
Page Previous 1, 2, 3, ... 423, 424, 425 Next

Downsizer Forum Index -> Grow Your Own

Author

Message

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 13 2:57 am Post subject:
More than on TyGwyn - there is actually a Boer goat stud up the road - lots of frolicking kidlets

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 13 3:00 am Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

I'm not upset, I'm surprised by your eternal shame. This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in the fracking debate. Big corporations and governments will be bound to disregard our concerns if we pay them to do so.

I think my remark 'eternal shame' acknowledges your point RobR - however I would also repeat Alchemist's question - what alternative would you recommend. We all live in a global society and dependence on any product of multinationals or indeed petrochemicals is an element of our lives. It is whether we use those products profligately or with restraint that determines the outcome, surely?

PS, I refuse to work through the entangled webs of companies to determine ownership before buying a sandwich ... lazy? Or just fairly balanced and moderate in my approach?

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 13 6:15 am Post subject:

From our local experience of goats I wouldn't recommend borrowing one. Some were introduced into our local country park to keep scrub down. They were found and retrieved from all over the place several times. In the end the park manager let it be known that if any more of the worst culprits strayed, he wouldn't be too unhappy if they ended up shot, and the rest were deported to Wales, I think it was.

Although Roundup is a Monsanto product, I don't know if they have a total monopoly on glyphosate. You could buy it as a generic from an Indian company and then it almost certainly wouldn't be a Monsanto product, but of course you don't know what impurities are in it as some non-branded products are not as carefully quality controlled as branded.

As you say, with some things it is so difficult finding the original owners of the company it is not worth trying. Also very difficult buying things that are not made by big companies sometimes.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 13 8:01 am Post subject:
I did have a bottle of generic glyphosate, but had to leave it behind in the shed when I left. I probably sat there unused for the last two tenants and I imagine the new ones have dealt with it appropriately now they have cleared out the rubbish that had stockpiled and are getting stuck into gardening in a major way.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 13 9:37 am Post subject:

cassandra wrote:

Rob R wrote:

I think my remark 'eternal shame' acknowledges your point RobR

It might have done, had you not followed it up with;

cassandra wrote:

Not sure how using another 25ml of a bottle of glyphosate bought 4 years ago might qualify as supporting big corporations

which sounded like an outright denial of the point.

cassandra wrote:

- however I would also repeat Alchemist's question - what alternative would you recommend. We all live in a global society and dependence on any product of multinationals or indeed petrochemicals is an element of our lives. It is whether we use those products profligately or with restraint that determines the outcome, surely?

Alchemist? Yes, it determines the outcome that they continue to do what they do because they have the endorsement, even, of people who care about the things they do wrong. If you don't use them at all it sends an even stronger message that you don't approve of their ethics.

cassandra wrote:

PS, I refuse to work through the entangled webs of companies to determine ownership before buying a sandwich ... lazy? Or just fairly balanced and moderate in my approach?

I agree, it is very difficult to work through the tangled web, but lets be honest, Monsanto don't make it very difficult to identify which are their products if you have the packaging. Like I said before, it's a trade off you're happy to make, I'm not going to try and persuade you otherwise. It sounds like you're still trying to justify it to yourself, rather than seeking validation from random people on the internet, but I could be wrong. You have acknowledged my point, so lets just leave it at that.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 13 10:42 pm Post subject:

I believe you made your point some time ago on a more relevant thread RobR. I simply disagree with it for reasons which I will not enlarge upon on this thread as it is off topic. So let's drop it, as you say.

Raining today but warm, and they are telling us the first day of Spring (1 September) will be 20 degrees!! I hate hot weather - would rather snuggle in front of a fire with a good book. Still, I guess the washing will dry more rapidly come summer ...

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 13 7:43 am Post subject:

For some reason autumn seems to have been officially brought forward this year. Normally the log loads start coming in with a vengeance after 1st September; this year they are coming in pretty fast a week early. Could be once bitten twice shy, even though it is still quite warm.

You seem to have 'weather' rather than climate even worse than we do Cassandra. Our first day of spring has been that hot, in fact I think it may have been last year, then just as we were hoping for a good summer, it started raining and didn't stop. Hope you have better weather after the warm start.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 13 8:38 am Post subject:

yes I agree Mistress Rose - our weather here is so variable, even in midsummer we can have snowfall and frosts. I clearly recall a white Christmas in the 1970s which caused something of a stir, it being midsummer..., still it also means we get absolute pearlers of days like yesterday in the middle of winter, so it is swings and roundabouts. Fortunately today was mainly spent indoors writing press releases, reading journal articles, that sort of thing, and the fire was finally lit mid afternoon (so getting later every day, one hopes). Of course next week we may well have a blizzard so I will still be keeping a stack of wood indoors to be dry for all eventualities.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 13 6:09 am Post subject:
Good idea to keep the wood in. This year we had a very late spring and we had a number of customers phoning up with plaintive pleas for firewood as they had run out and it was still cold. Trouble was, the ash we hoped to have in store for this winter (the one coming up) all got sold.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 13 8:20 am Post subject:

Ah yes, I can see that would be a problem. Today (once the fog lifted) was another sunshiney day so I forced myself to acknowledge the need to pick up the lawnmower from the service station where it was being serviced. The dog insisted on coming as he is getting bored lying in front of the fire all day, and we stopped off by the lake for a walk. Beautiful day for it. Ran into one of the local teachers who was scoping it for a planned geology lesson and we happily discussed lunette dunes and such like before he headed home with my instructions to phone his brother - a local farmer - and tell him to come to the meeting. Then a quiet chat with a fisherman who had all but given up on his chances of a trout (the wind had picked up by then and the surface was getting a bit choppy) before heading back home and doing a bit of mowing (not much you understand, you have to work yourself up to this sort of thing).
Dog is knackered, so that is good - he is getting old and the sorts of long walks we used to do would have him in traction these days ...

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 13 8:46 am Post subject:

On the gardening side of things, I potted up the grape cuttings in the hope they will strike some roots once the leaves open. I suppose I will have to cut the leaves in half to reduce transpiration while that happens? Dunno - never grown grape cuttings before. The redcurrant cuttings all have leaves on them too (have not had the courage to find out if they have roots yet). So now I have several pots of plants to add to the chives I potted up last year, to sell at the Uniting Church Spring Fair this year (if it happens since we lost our last minister and the new one has not really made an impression yet). It has been an annual event at the Hall since the beginning of the last century so it will be great if it can be continued. But the chap who died recently was also a key mover and getting-things-done person, so perhaps it won't

Will dig over the vege patch tomorrow and investigate the straggling brassicas to see if they have any hope at all - if not, they will come out and be replaced with something more promising like carrots.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Sun Sep 01, 13 7:55 am Post subject:
Hope your cuttings take, your church fair happens and there is some hope for your brassicas. I am still planting out kale and purple sprouters as well as harvesting and watering. Think growth is slowing down a bit as I haven't had to do any pinching out on the grape lately. Am living in hopes of getting some grapes this year.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Sun Sep 01, 13 9:29 am Post subject:

I remain ignorant to the fate of the cabbages as I went to the market today and became so engrossed in local gossip (quite a lot what with funerals, meetings, seniors outings, updates on the progress of the community garden and all that I did not get home until well after lunch, by which time the wind had picked up to galeforce so staying indoors seemed a sensible thing to do. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 13 8:15 am Post subject:
So we still don't know the fate of the cabbages. Waiting for the next update. I think I will need to replant some that I planted out a while ago. Something, in spite of my efforts with net and copper pipe, seems to have eaten some of them. Also hope to plant out another bed of them and dig the potatoes.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 13 8:43 am Post subject:

Pretty terrible to tell the truth. I am pulling them out and digging over the ground and throwing in some sheep poo. If I can get work done without being deafened. The neighbours have decided that the solution to a complaining neighbour on one side is to move the problem to my side. You know how council tells you to time the barking periods? It's easier to time the non-barking periods - 20 minutes of peace since four this afternoon (it is now 6:40). And of course if Shadow goes out for a wee they are off again ... Animal control will be on speed dial as of tomorrow... grrr. We reached an agreement two years ago that the dogs would not be on my side of their house - but apparently the new neighbours complain even more effectively than me - and they own a gun which could be pretty persuasive). You wouldn't mind so much if they came out and sorted the dogs out but they just ignore it.

So the cabbages (or what is recoverable of them) will become frozen shredded cabbage, the carrots will go in tomorrow and on Wednesday it is supposed to rain so that is good. Another swathe of growth has been slashed in the grounds (lawn) and last night's curry is going down well with some chips (and the rest is frozen cos tomorrow it will be the broccoli's turn - blue cheese soup I think..

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Grow Your Own	All times are GMT Page Previous 1, 2, 3, ... 423, 424, 425 Next
Page 2 of 425

View Latest Posts