Live Stoner Chat Sanctuary

[Mr Piggy]

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Mossy Mossy Mossy, is that the same downed palm tree you were going to deal with a couple of years ago?
Tisk tisk.

 

[Mossy]

Has to be one of the oldest threads On AFN.

Kinda cool reading back. We've come pretty far since then.

It IS. It was the first thread we posted when just me and you were here. FD was MIA I Think for the first few days..and even JM didn't get in for about 3 days.
I Like to read the first pages every now and then..remind me of what we wanted AFN to be.
Can you remember sitting behind the screen checking every day to see if we had hit the magic 100 members.....Happy Days.

Your not going to delete it, in an effort to update?

Mikey....you trying to evict me..?...

Not a chance.

Deleting this thread would be like sticking a knife in the gut of the site. I'm pretty sure I even have posts here in the beginning as well as recently. I feel it's part of the foundation of the site.

Have you had a read back FD..we sound so Young...

Years end update on the ranch shortly...

 

[Mossy]

Beloved Pig..how are you...?...

Very little of the stump left now..after the last burn..makes way for the new orchard.

 

[Mr Piggy]

I am tired. This year has been quite lively and anything but boring for me. Graduated college and got my forestry degree, got married to the best damn woman on the planet, spent the summer up in the puget sound doing tree work and fishing for salmon/crab/clams. Came back down to Oregon in time to see off a few family members that were dying, including a couple of grand parents. Now I'm doing tree work outdoors in winter in an environment very similar to the UK. I haven't even had time to do an indoor grow since last.... march? The big one I put outdoors doesn't count, wife took care of that while I was gone.

This place has changed a bit since I was around last.

Good to see you too Mossy

 

[Mossy]

Graduated college and got my forestry degree, got married to the best damn woman on the planet, spent the summer up in the puget sound doing tree work and fishing for salmon/crab/clams.

CONGRATULATIONS..that is a hell of a year....
and..you got your degree too.....Proud of you..I Knew you would.

The big one I put outdoors doesn't count, wife took care of that while I was gone.

Hey..she looks after your girls too..what more do you want in a wife...?....

Now I'm doing tree work outdoors in winter in an environment very similar to the UK. I haven't even had time to do an indoor grow since last.... march?

This place has changed a bit since I was around last.

Good to see you too Mossy

Yeah..Bailer is back..so we have been updated..the old site was ready to drop out of the sky..and we have a new photo period sister site...PotPros.net.

Are you back for a while..or just a quick visit..?

 

[MikeyB420]

Hi Auntie,

Thanks for the rep! I do use BS in the winter as that's when my knees play up the most, more so when it's cold and humid (like now!), over the last year I've also slowly been cutting out certain NHS prescription medications which I found out tended to exacerbate the problem. My GP was none committal when I told him what I was doing (to be honest, I've think he's so overworked that one less patient he doesn't have to see on a regular basis, pleases him?), that aside, for the first time in 3 years I have not suffered from SAD, brought on I'm sure by the cocktail of meds I was on!

Thank goodness for Dragon Medication! I almost out now, so I'm hoping for a nice crop in a month or so!


Mikey.

Damn! I can't start a conversation with you, so will stick this in Sanctuary instead, hope you don't mind?

 

[Mossy]

Damn! I can't start a conversation with you, so will stick this in Sanctuary instead, hope you don't mind?

You probably have more chance of an Answer here Mikey..my Inbox is always the last thing to get Hit...

Thanks for the rep! I do use BS in the winter as that's when my knees play up the most, more so when it's cold and humid (like now!),

PH is affected by Heat and Light..I always find crash hardest Jan/Feb..for me it is when the outdoor night temps drop
below 10 C..regular as clock work.

over the last year I've also slowly been cutting out certain NHS prescription medications which I found out tended to exacerbate the problem. My GP was none committal when I told him what I was doing (to be honest, I've think he's so overworked that one less patient he doesn't have to see on a regular basis, pleases him?), that aside, for the first time in 3 years I have not suffered from SAD, brought on I'm sure by the cocktail of meds I was on!

Yup..I found the prescription stuff could actually make things worse....they did for me.

Thank goodness for Dragon Medication! I almost out now, so I'm hoping for a nice crop in a month or so!

Yup..they get me through the winter too....

 

[Mossy]

Meanwhile back @ the Ranch......a full year has passed..and Probably with more failures than successes....it was a steep learning curve..
but I go into the second year with much more Idea...I Hope......

The main problem last season was the agricultural water..and just getting used to the watering in general.
Totally different from the UK.

I Think we have the general idea now...the plants that survived are doing well.
Hard to believe that these two daisies were 3 euros each..in 4 inch pots last winter when they were planted.

If you get the watering right..they will grow...

I started off the year buying the woven mulch to stop the weeds coming through on the permanent beds.....big mistake..the sun over here perished it in 6 months and rendered if fairy useless.

We have gone over to the farmers thick black plastic mulch for the permanent beds..and see how much longer that lasts.
I'm actually Very tempted to give it a covering of soil..just to protect the plastic from the sun..see if I can get more than one season from it.

The land is very fertile..and very full of weed seed......everytime we turn it over and water it..we get another type of crop.
It Looks as if they may have been using green manure..and I'm reaping the benefits....but hey..if Life deals you weeds..make your own high nitrogen liquid tea.
So we invested in a 500 ltr water butt..you can see it at the back left of the garden..and all the weeds that don't go for chicken salad go in the water butt now.

Put back into the land what I am taking out.

We did get a bit overwhelmed with weeds in the autumn..but hubby has the metal strimmer going now and that makes a hell of a difference.

 

[Mossy]

We Tried a bit of natural growing..this patch was very unfortunate.
After I planted the peas it rained on and off for 2 weeks..we couldn't get on the land..and the weeds just overwhelmed them.
Even with heavy weeding..you could barely see the plants.

The chickens loved it..Big weed salad every day.

I took notice of the farmers planting..so some plug plants from the local co-operative..planted much closer together than recommended have actually done well..blocked most of the light out..and really haven't needed much weeding..
But..the onions and stuff like the peas that don't hold much shadow have been overwhelmed.

So..on to plan b and the plastic mulch beds...

Way to go..mulch more successful......and definitely the way to grow from now on.

You still get weeds popping up through the planting holes..but much more controllable..TF.....the flaming reeds push straight throught it though..and I can't Think of a way to stop them.

We found the local farmers co-op and it is great.

We go down every 3 weeks..spend a few euros on plug plants..and plant up.
We get to know what grows here in what season..and have a ready supply of fresh product.
They charge 10 cents a plant.
I'm happy using them for the bulk garden..and grow specials from seed.

The veggies have had a nitrogen tea once a week since December when I got back from the UK and it had brewed.
Garlic spray once a week to keep the beasties off.

It doesn't eliminate them..but I'm quite happy about me return..the chickens get the caterpillar/slug damaged outer leaves and we get the hearts..can't say fairer than that.

I don't mind a bit of beast/caterpillar action on a few leaves..as long as they don't try for a bigger share than me when I do the work for it.. ..I feel it is a mother nature tax..

The 30 euro aloe vera farm has expanded to 3 6 x 2 mtr beds.
mother nature willing..if all the pups in the nursery beds root..I should have 100 aloe vera plants in various stages of growth by spring.
Harvesting the larger plant leaves should make us self sufficient in aloe vera juice by spring...and over producing by spring 2017.

Good thing is if you over produce you don't have to harvest..you can just leave it until you need it.

1ltr of fresh aloe vera used to cost us 18 euros and lasted about a month.
Diluted 50/50 with mineral water I can make the same volume from one large leaf....so we will be saving money.

 

[Mossy]

We spent our Christmas money and Christmas time starting to set up an orchard.
The bare root plants this time of year are cheaper that buying already potted up and growing in spring.

We bought most things in pair for cross pollination.
So we got a couple of different apples..couple of pears..cherry..pomegranate..apricot..mandarin..most averaging 6-8 euros..
1 hazel nut..with another planned..and a walnut..which I found out grows 50 ft square..
I wasn't going to plant it but I Though hell..it ain't gonna grow that big in our life time..so I'll leave it for the kids to sort out.



You never know..a huge walnut tree might be valuable for the wood alone.

I'm going to plant it in the field though..I don't want it in the garden...it would cover it.