Early Summer Bits and Bobs.
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
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Primrose
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Zilch here. Very disappointing. A night of steady rain really needed. Glad I,m not a farmer. A combination of no rain and a desperate shortage of crop pickers must be causing many sleepless nights.
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retropants
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Loads of dark clouds have loomed all day, then floated off whithout shedding a single drop of the good stuff.
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Westi
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vivienz I thought you would have got some as well, being close'ish but it was fickle down here as well, home got it & work got it, but as I found out today only one side of the plot got it! So much for not watering for a day! But tunnel got a drenching & all the butts topped up as no-one down! They were probably lured into a false sense of security because it hit their home, it must hit lottie as well!
Westi
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oldherbaceous
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A very warm welcome to the forum, aktr1.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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vivienz
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Westi wrote:vivienz I thought you would have got some as well, being close'ish but it was fickle down here as well, home got it & work got it, but as I found out today only one side of the plot got it! So much for not watering for a day! But tunnel got a drenching & all the butts topped up as no-one down! They were probably lured into a false sense of security because it hit their home, it must hit lottie as well!
Techinically, we had precipitation, but it was so light and so windy that it made little difference. That said, we appear to have had a bit of rain overnight, enough that I haven't had to water my raised beds, so that's a bonus. We're due some more tomorrow afternoon, too, so I'm pleased about that. I need to find another form of exercise now, rather than trotting back and forth from the tap to the beds, which is a bit of a distance as we haven't had one fitted in the kitchen garden yet. I do wish the wind would die down a little, though.
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tigerburnie
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A bit like north Dorset up here too, lots of dark cloud and strong winds but the garden looks like it could do with watering.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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Westi
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Welcome aktr1!
Just post away, ask silly questions, ask probing questions, challenge the clever guys on here! Everyone is friendly & we remember what it was like when we started. Put your general location on your info so the guys closest to you can give you 'local' advice & timings for sowing etc. Love your Avatar btw!
Just post away, ask silly questions, ask probing questions, challenge the clever guys on here! Everyone is friendly & we remember what it was like when we started. Put your general location on your info so the guys closest to you can give you 'local' advice & timings for sowing etc. Love your Avatar btw!
Westi
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peter
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Mum bought a shredder in 97, 5hp petrol jobbie, when she passed away in 2007 I didn't have room for it and gifted it to a friend who helped me clear her house and move the greenhouse to my place.
Chatting with him last month about the council banning bonfires on the allotments, he asked did I want the shredder back as he wasn't using it, - he had had plans to convert it to a generator. I didn't quite bite his arm off, but it was back with me a week or so later.
Still worked fine, hardly a scratch on it, but as I found out on filling it up, there was a split in the petrol tank. Looking online I found that the engine maker - Tecumseh - vacated the UK market some years ago and spares are only available from the USA. Fair enough so I looked around, cheapest was $18, but shipping was $44! Ulp-crikey!
So I asked my best local small firm in Radwinter Banks Garden Machinery and he said he'd see what he could do, sent some pictures. Anyhow, my new to me Honda rotovator's been getting more difficult to start with each session, I decided to check the spark plug. Uh-Oh - the carry handle means you need a very compact spark plug tubular spanner, none of my chainsaw or strimmer ones were the right size or if they were, were too long to get in behind the carry handle! So I checked Banks's were open by phone and went there expecting to leave the Honda there.
Keeping it shortish, got it in there, was chatting about the starting and inability to access the spark plug, chap got up from the strimmer he was working on and with repeated searches of the big toolchest found a tool that fitted and got the old plug out. Then his his wife got a new plug, took the old one and rummaged in the shop, where she found a brand new proper tool of all the right dimensions. Once the new spark plug went in it started first pull and didn't die when I let go of the throttle. Result one!
Asked how he was doing with sourcing a tank for the shredder, he'd not seen my email with the pictures I'd sent. So I took the Honda out to the car and got my wallet and phone to pay and show him the pictures of the shredder.
Took one look at a picture and said he needed to look in "the shed of plenty" , which I deduced is the too good to chuck collection of bits. Came back with a complete 6hp Tecumseh engine, slightly different as it's off a go-cart, but basically the same model, a luggage label on the exhaust proclaims it to be a working take off.
Only asked me for a tenner for the whole engine as is!
Left only £20 lighter with working Honda and a spare engine!
Just swapped the tank, split one has a spider's web of splits like it's been hit with a sledge hammer!
Chatting with him last month about the council banning bonfires on the allotments, he asked did I want the shredder back as he wasn't using it, - he had had plans to convert it to a generator. I didn't quite bite his arm off, but it was back with me a week or so later.
Still worked fine, hardly a scratch on it, but as I found out on filling it up, there was a split in the petrol tank. Looking online I found that the engine maker - Tecumseh - vacated the UK market some years ago and spares are only available from the USA. Fair enough so I looked around, cheapest was $18, but shipping was $44! Ulp-crikey!
So I asked my best local small firm in Radwinter Banks Garden Machinery and he said he'd see what he could do, sent some pictures. Anyhow, my new to me Honda rotovator's been getting more difficult to start with each session, I decided to check the spark plug. Uh-Oh - the carry handle means you need a very compact spark plug tubular spanner, none of my chainsaw or strimmer ones were the right size or if they were, were too long to get in behind the carry handle! So I checked Banks's were open by phone and went there expecting to leave the Honda there.
Keeping it shortish, got it in there, was chatting about the starting and inability to access the spark plug, chap got up from the strimmer he was working on and with repeated searches of the big toolchest found a tool that fitted and got the old plug out. Then his his wife got a new plug, took the old one and rummaged in the shop, where she found a brand new proper tool of all the right dimensions. Once the new spark plug went in it started first pull and didn't die when I let go of the throttle. Result one!
Asked how he was doing with sourcing a tank for the shredder, he'd not seen my email with the pictures I'd sent. So I took the Honda out to the car and got my wallet and phone to pay and show him the pictures of the shredder.
Took one look at a picture and said he needed to look in "the shed of plenty" , which I deduced is the too good to chuck collection of bits. Came back with a complete 6hp Tecumseh engine, slightly different as it's off a go-cart, but basically the same model, a luggage label on the exhaust proclaims it to be a working take off.
Only asked me for a tenner for the whole engine as is!
Left only £20 lighter with working Honda and a spare engine!
Just swapped the tank, split one has a spider's web of splits like it's been hit with a sledge hammer!
- IMG_20200526_112905.jpg (3.79 MiB) Viewed 2531 times
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oldherbaceous
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Excellent Peter, now stories like that, we love to hear about... 
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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Clive.
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Now this has reminded me...I'm sure I've recounted it before..but hey-ho...
An earlier type shredder from that company was ordered by a customer..I unpacked it, built it up, oilled and fueled and gave it a run.... was busting to see what it could do but no way could it be tested with real material before heading to the customer....
....but...somehow...a tiny piece of polystyrene packing entered the chute....it was only a little bit...but blessed white balls went everywhere..and, via static, stuck all over...
DO NOT try this at home..........
C.
An earlier type shredder from that company was ordered by a customer..I unpacked it, built it up, oilled and fueled and gave it a run.... was busting to see what it could do but no way could it be tested with real material before heading to the customer....
....but...somehow...a tiny piece of polystyrene packing entered the chute....it was only a little bit...but blessed white balls went everywhere..and, via static, stuck all over...
DO NOT try this at home..........
C.
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oldherbaceous
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Well we caught a massive thunder storm yesterday, with torrential rain and also the dreaded hail...everywhere turned white! It has shredded a lot of leaves but, we seem to have got away fairly lightly, considering. A funny thing is though, when I went over the allotments this morning, there was still hail in peoples cage netting, where it had pulled the top covers down....very strange.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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Cider Boys
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I thankfully have escaped the hail and thunder storms but the wind has been the most destructive. My plot is extremely exposed just a few miles from the sea and the strong winds have severely damaged my runner beans. It has broken off the growing tips half way up the canes and on my later sowings has ripped off most of the leaves. My fleece covered courgettes no longer have any fleece protection but an apple tree 100 yards away is now fully fleece protected.
Barney
Barney
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Barney, veg growing seems to get more challenging as the years get on, due to the weather!!
I do hope your Runners recover...Just had a Mole out of Old Codgers Runner beans, so he was very grateful...they do so much damage when the plants are trying to get established....
I do hope your Runners recover...Just had a Mole out of Old Codgers Runner beans, so he was very grateful...they do so much damage when the plants are trying to get established....
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.