Wildfood.info

by **scullion** » March 11th, 2020, 8:21 am

good morning, all.
overcast with sunny patches are on the cards today - 'they' have taken away the previous promise of full sun for part of the morning - good job that no dough was made last night.
off to the farm in an hour. i am going to move very carefully.
i am wondering if the farm have put any 'emergency' procedures in place for when the virus spreads into the community down here (there are four cases in cornwall so far all of which are said to be related).
i have been offered a coffee.
have a good day, everyone.

by **suffolk** » March 11th, 2020, 9:31 am

Good morning all

No tennis today so my job this morning is seed sorting and making a list for the garden centre this afternoon.

Otherwise it promises to be a very relaxed day indeed.

Take it carefully Scully :hug:

Have a good day all

by **scullion** » March 12th, 2020, 10:59 am

good morning, all.
sunny interspersed with lashing rain that lasts less than a minute.
nothing planned other than the replenishment of the raised bed that was dealt with yesterday - followed by the planting of the garlic that should have been planted months ago - it's sprouted and looking a little unhappy so it may not recover too well.
the blossom has all been blown off the peach/nectarine tree - it was looking beautiful a few weeks back.
i have still to sow tomato seeds etc.
we have had a visit and chat with our son, this morning. he says that his office has said they will all be in on monday - mad - but he says the boss has been flip-flopping over that decision for the best part of the week so he'll see what happens with the c.o.b.r.a meeting. we'll meet for brunch at the beach before he has to go back to the hotbed of infection.
have a good day, everyone.

by **scullion** » March 13th, 2020, 8:27 am

good morning, all.
happy friday the thirteenth.
we are promised full sun at eleven and rain this afternoon.
i don't think the virus measures went far enough, yesterday. they haven't taken into consideration that the infection is 'silent' for nearly a week before symptoms are seen so by the time your friend/colleague/family member shows any, you have already been exposed.
i will go and shop late this evening.
have a good day, everyone.

by **suffolk** » March 13th, 2020, 9:15 am

Good morning all

I agree with you Scully ... I'm doing my best to stay away from folk ... OH has to go to work, but tends not to get too close to customers anyway, and is conscientious about handwashing etc so our fingers are crossed.

DS is worried about work ... or rather the lack of it ... and DD has banned her father from visiting her home as he will insist on ignoring health advice and flying back and forth to places that he oughtn't, given his health issues. She's told him that her clients have told her not to visit them if she's been visited by her father so she's told him that if she loses money because he comes around he'll have to pay her instead. That'll concentrate his mind a bit :lol:

Have a good day all :hug:

by **Gruney** » March 13th, 2020, 9:40 am

by **Herbidacious** » March 13th, 2020, 10:00 am

They have adopted a very utilitarian approach. Some will suffer in the near future so that fewer will suffer later. They have some argument that if we stem it now without obliterating it, it will resurge in the winter with the same ferocity. I have no idea if this science is good, but I feel very angry about it and with my work. Husband was sitting wheezing last night from a very mild cold. It's having a profoundly bad effect on me physically and mentally (alas the latter always entails the former for me.) I certainly can't concentrate at work. The atmosphere in town is very unpleasant. Febrile and aggressive. Have taken today off as I am simply exhausted. Work sent out an email last night pretty much repeating what the government said as company policy. They won't make a move until the government does, which the government won't. Money is more important.

Sorry about you son, Suffs. I hope he will be ok work wise.

I was hoping husband would take me to Rainham Marshes - could do to get out of the house and have some 'fresh' air (not sure how many miles from London you have to go to get this, so not sure if I will get any in Rainham

) and some therapeutic photography... and maybe get a bit of perspective back. But he didn't arrange to take time off working. Wish he'd told me earlier in the week...
I have plenty of other things I can do, though, both pleasurable and practical. I ordered some biodegradable sweet pea root trainers (didn't think ahead enough to save loo roll tubes, although with OH working at home we will get through them more quickly

) so could start off some sweet peas. I have an awful lot of seed. I ought to do some garden tidying and weeding too. And housework...

Sorry for moany post...

I hope the day goes well for everyone.

by **earthmaiden** » March 13th, 2020, 10:13 am

It really does seem flawed doesn't it. I don't think the UK is coping well at all with testing and isolation even now. I am very worried too about the lack of hand sanitiser and wipes available at an affordable price to certain sectors where handwashing is difficult such as delivery drivers and field workers.

by **scullion** » March 14th, 2020, 1:01 pm

good aftermorning, all.
'they' have taken away our patch of full sun - this means we're having pizza for dinner (rather than a loaf of bread being baked).
the forecast is now for overcast all day.
i think nothing much will be done today - shopping was done last night.
i found it very interesting that the shelves at lidl were empty of penne and fusilli but there was plenty of spaghetti - boxes of it.
personally, i prefer spaghetti - it's much more entertaining to eat. with penne etc you just stick in a fork and stuff it in your mouth - there are so many more choices with spaghetti. do you twirl it against the plate or a spoon? do you fork up a hank and try to stuff it in or bite off some letting the rest fall back to the plate? or do you go for the way it was eaten at school - get one string to your mouth and suck it in letting the sauce flick over your face/clothes/table? - yeah, spaghetti has it any day!
have a good day, everyone.

by **scullion** » March 15th, 2020, 10:03 am

good morning, all.
overcast but dry although the forecast says it's raining at the moment.
the bread dough was put in the bottom of the fridge, last night, for tomorrow when it's predicted to be full sun all day - hooray.
it's interesting to hear a woman on the radio say 'how many toilet rolls do you need if you have a cough?" clearly she has not factored in the self isolation aspect of not going to the shops. (but i bet she has a room/cellar full of 'prepper' supplies!).
the next raised bed is being prepped for sugar snap peas, cherokee trail of tears climbing beans and gigantes beans.
i think that the predicted rain might be dripping from the roof now.
have a good day, everyone.

by **earthmaiden** » March 15th, 2020, 10:11 am

Nice to see you're planning your entertainment in readiness for lockdown Scully :lol:

. (Twirl, slurp, bite ... ).

by **suffolk** » March 15th, 2020, 10:40 am

Good morning all

I don't think folk have factored in that many/most people use loo rolls rather than Kleenex tissues for coughs and sneezes (when they use anything at all). To me that explains some of the loo roll purchases at least.

We're hoping to get on with the garden next week ... the weather is promised to be warmer, and OH has a few days off work

I must say I agree with you re pasta shapes Scully ... I much prefer 'long pasta' to short and chunky ... much more interesting.

Oooh the sun's peeking through ... have a good day all

by **StokeySue** » March 15th, 2020, 12:52 pm

I think you are giving people far too much credit for common sense, I din't suppose most of them have though through why they are buying loo rolls, it's just something they don't want to run out of,

I bet I won't be able to get the cheapo tissues I use to blot my eyes after putting in drops, but I can easily find a substitute

by **scullion** » March 16th, 2020, 7:59 am

Good morning, all.
The sun is shining so the first lot of dough will be going in, outside, in an hour or two.
Yesterday saw the sowing of tomato seeds; seven different types from saved seed. Next will be peas and beans.
What would be nice is for the ground to dry up a little - where we walk to put washing out and do stuff in a part of the garden is still muddy. We do detour round the worst bit but I suppose that just spreads the area.
Have a glorious day, everyone.

by **Herbidacious** » March 16th, 2020, 9:11 am

It's lovely and sunny here right now.Lily (cat) is loving it.

I sowed a lot of sweet pea seeds yesterday - 2x 39 (I must have doubled up one of the root trainers...) Perhaps will sow some veg too. I suppose if I am at home more I will have more time (but not space) to devote to growing from seed. Two hours regained from the commute and micro breaks during the day, plus ability to do things outside as can work round other stuff?
Work will be sending guidelines about wfr today. I am supposed to be getting a phone call?!
Setting off for the office in 50 mins. Need to go then so that OH can fit me into his busy meetings schedule to pick me up from the station with my books etc.

I think I need to do a cat food audit. Getting a bit worried about buying food. I am hoping that people will stop stock piling and shops will restock for a while before they possibly are unable to restock (this future possiblity, one assumes, is what is prompting the panic buying?)

by **StokeySue** » March 16th, 2020, 9:24 am

Good morning
Gloriously sunny here too
Feeling a bit better today but still not properly well, might try to tidy up a bit
I need to do planting, later this week maybe
Have a good day everyone

by **earthmaiden** » March 16th, 2020, 10:30 am

by **StokeySue** » March 16th, 2020, 11:49 am

Morrison’s are rationing some things, not sure what yet, haven’t had the email

I have been surprised what small stocks some people keep - I don’t mean people who are struggling routinely but monthly paid middle class people, who apparently have to buy a small bag of rice or pasta every time they want to cook it, I have a glass jar full which is topped up when it starts to run out, I thought that was normal

by **smitch** » March 16th, 2020, 11:53 am

I just buy my preferred brand when it is on offer at Ocado. I happen to have a few packets in the cupboard at the moment as there was a good deal on fairly recently. I was also given a pack of different pasta as a free gift when I checked out an order.

by **earthmaiden** » March 16th, 2020, 12:35 pm

Sue, I think the craze for super tidy kitchens and horror of getting near 'use by' dates has created the trend. I hope people don't end up wasting the food they have bought in excess.

by **StokeySue** » March 16th, 2020, 2:48 pm

My kitchen is super tidy
And I keep it that way by never having odd packs of stuff, just the jars. Bb dates really don’t matter for most dry goods, though wholewheat products can go interestingly rancid quite quickly

by **earthmaiden** » March 16th, 2020, 5:04 pm

Please don't think I was suggesting that your kitchen is messy. I was thinking of the kind of people who have a super duper kitchen but never cook and throw things away on a whim. You know the type I mean - you are certainly not one of them!

by **Herbidacious** » March 16th, 2020, 5:09 pm

My kitchen is messy...

I have a friend whose fridge looks like a model's - never any more than bottle of booze and piece of fruit.

by **Herbidacious** » March 16th, 2020, 5:13 pm

I am going to try to stop worrying about food now. We have enough cat food for a fair while (and I ordered some - will be delivered, I hope, on the 23rd), and husband and I need to go on diets anyway

Loo paper may become an issue unless its properly rationed. But if people take Boris's latest advise seriously, pepole may not be going to the shops. But hten judging from the horrible FB local page (which I have now left), a lot of people round here won't be taking that seriously, but will yet continue to stockpile. (No logic, but worse than that, no sense of humour.)
Right now I could do with a nice hole to put my ostrich head in, just for a minute. I am going to blow a fuse at this rate.

by **StokeySue** » March 16th, 2020, 8:04 pm

by **scullion** » March 17th, 2020, 9:17 am

good morning, all.
bright but overcast.
i have been eying up the garden for forageables in the case of veg shortage thankfully we have plenty of nettles, three cornered leek and navelwort - it is the time for wild (lax) gardeners to feel better about their idleness!
i'd better move quickly cos i have some counter tops arriving in an hour and i would like a coffee.
hope you're feeling better soon, sue.
have a good day, everyone.

by **Herbidacious** » March 17th, 2020, 10:03 am

Sunny here. Hope to potter in the garden briefly later.

Sue, I hope you feel better soon.

I am off to clean our loos :shock:

(I have had gastric issues...)

by **Herbidacious** » March 18th, 2020, 8:31 am

Morning.
A dull one as we were supposed to get yesterday, but didn't.
I took delivery of quite a lot of compost this morning. This will enable to me pot on the dwarf fruit trees and should last me for quite a while, although I may have underestimated how much I need to said trees. I am intentionally sending off for things thinking that maybe in the future home deliveries for non-essentials won't happen. Mind you home deliveries for essentials aren't happening at the moment. I wonder if we will end up switching to a click and collect system in supermarkets. No good for people without the internet though. Anyway. Am going to try and not digest too much news and CV talk today. It's not helping.
Scully I may just pot up your jostaberry cuttings. I don’t really want to go to the post office with its inevitable queue, which in Sydenham normally includes aggressive people even in normal times. Maybe they can be sent to you at some point in the future. Maybe I can even deliver them (Cornwall is on our list). But there will be other times to take new ones if not. The 'mother plant' is getting huge. It looks like a small tree. I wonder if it gets big enough, I manage to actually get some fruit off it, left by the birds. (Probably not.) The dream is a huge fruit cage.
Day 2.5 of working from home, and I am already getting too chatty. I had better get on with some work. Later in the day, I need to hall 17 50l bags of compost down the side of the house. (Also bought two huge builders' flexible mixing tubs to use as pots. Was this a good idea? We'll see.)

by **suffolk** » March 18th, 2020, 9:52 am

Good morning

We got some gardening done yesterday (OH's hours have been reduced so he can look forward to even more gardening with me :lol:

) and the brown bin that was emptied on Monday is full again. :rolleyes:

We can't use the compost heap for the moment as that has to be moved to enable the fence to be fixed at the beginning of April.

We have rain forecast for later this morning so I have decided that this morning I will make spiced buns and a cauliflower cheese for supper. This afternoon OH has plans to continue his blitz on the kitchen cupboards :luv:

Have a good day all ... keep well

by **scullion** » March 18th, 2020, 11:37 am

good morning, all.
bright at the moment but we are due rain soon.
on the site i have linked to in the corona and yoke threads i read a series of tweets, from someone in italy, showing the six stages they have gone through. worth a read.
nothing planned for today. i won't reworking at the farm for the foreseeable future i emailed yesterday and have been told they are thinking of closing anyway and the evening club (i was asked to cover the desk for tonight) has been cancelled for the duration, too.
on the plus side the air quality maps are showing green for nearly everywhere in this country, worldwide atmospheric pollution will be decreasing and the lack of flights will be good for co2 levels. - the silver lining will be shinier!
i have been offered coffee.
have a good day, everyone.

by **hickybank** » March 18th, 2020, 6:55 pm

Back on line again after the fiasco that was my changeover to Sky, almost finished up with a punch up on my lawn, settled for telling him to get off my property.
He said he could not fit a disc to my property ( although others around me clearly have)
Rang up & cancelled my contract ( took me over 2 hours, most tome on hold.
Now going back to BT but will take until the end of the month. (using my neighbours WI IF for now)
By far the worst company I have ever have the misfortune to deal with.

by **scullion** » March 19th, 2020, 9:52 am

good morning, all.
wet.
strangely enough i have nothing planned today other than for a young man to come and put some magnetic catches on cupboard doors and fit shelf pegs - he didn't have them with him the other day. i have asked for an hour's warning - just in case i'm still in pyjamas - er, leisure suit (isn't that what pjs become once you are out of bed‽‽)
the rain is predicted to dry up so i may get out in the garden. i might also go through the yoga session i recorded on my phone last year - better than nothing - or do a few 'teddies' (round and round the garden), as my partner calls them. the tide is wrong for a walk on the beach.
i hope your day is a little less fraught than yesterday, hickybank.
have a good day, everyone.

by **suffolk** » March 19th, 2020, 10:40 am

Good morning all
Dry but overcast
OH is taking a parcel containing DD's MIL's cardi to the Post Office. Other than that the only plans for today are gardening, painting and knitting ... our semi - self-isolation doesn't really seem much different so far to the usual very quiet life we usually lead.
Keep safe everyone and have a good day.

by **scullion** » March 19th, 2020, 10:52 am

snap.

by **Herbidacious** » March 19th, 2020, 10:59 am

Wet here too. Basil came in very wet and dirty. (Currently somewhat academic) Question: when is the best time of year to get settees cleaned in view of aforementioned cat's love of drying his dirty paws on them?

Feeling okish today so will go out for a walk later, I think (avoiding people, of course - not difficult round here) and post Mothering Sunday card. I arranged for her to get letterbox flowers.
Might start some more seeds off, if I can decide where to put propagator no.2.
Still no luck finding out how to register mother as elderly with Sainsburys. Rang thi smorming and was on hold for an hour. Gave up in the end. She should get a delivery today...
I hope everyone has a good day.

by **scullion** » March 19th, 2020, 11:08 am

may - so you can have a couple of months of clean sofa before the inevitable rain in august (school holidays).
or use a throw and hope the dirt just disappears of its own accord.

by **scullion** » March 20th, 2020, 9:25 am

good morning, all.
bright with no suggestion of rain.
i feel self righteous. last year, before going away somewhere i recorded, on my phone, the yoga class that i go to. yesterday afternoon i did the hour and a quarter session. my partner and i are both going to follow it this morning. i have decided that i will put in a pot half of the fee i would normally pay for going to the session and donate it to the yoga teacher as her income will be disappearing. i know it's not much but maybe it could buy the odd necessity.
hopefully it will help to ward off weight gain and sinking further into indolence during the lack of 'normal' life.
i have a cup of coffee - at least that's normal!
have a good day, everyone.

by **StokeySue** » March 20th, 2020, 10:01 am

Good morning
Yes quite nice here, getting ready to go out and look at the supermarket, haven’t been for over 2 weeks of course
Wish me luck

by **Seatallan** » March 20th, 2020, 10:02 am

Good luck Sue.... :hug:

by **scullion** » March 20th, 2020, 10:05 am

glad you're feeling better, well, enough to go shopping.

by **miss mouse** » March 20th, 2020, 7:04 pm

by **earthmaiden** » March 20th, 2020, 7:15 pm

Yes, hope it went ok! We worry about our Wildie friends :hug:

.

by **StokeySue** » March 20th, 2020, 8:37 pm

No, went not badly
Obviously meany gaps but I got most of what I wanted. No meat, so also went to the butcher as well and got mince and lamb chops
But bread, 39p veg bags, plenty of bacon, cheese and cold cuts, pizza has been restocked so there’s a choice etc

I also bought a litre of gin
The sales assistant grinned up at me and said “Now make sure you make it last the full two days!”

Didn’t get into the pharmacy (not urgent) - they are only letting in 4 people at a time and the queue looked like a casting call for Shaun of the Dead or Zapped

by **Herbidacious** » March 20th, 2020, 11:32 pm

I am beginning to wonder if Sydenham is particularly bad for rabid food hoarders. The local Turkish shop was bedlam yesterday, and if I do catch C-19 it will have been in there. (No attempt at standing far apart from anyone else.)
My friend in Primrose Hill says all her local shops have everything they usually do and even loo paper.
Sainsburys here yesterday was deeply depressing. We have vowed not to go again until we really have to. I forgot binliners and, er , (guilty pleasure) but managed to order both online. Binliners were reasonable and should come tomorrow. The other thing less so, and will hopefully turn up on Monday. Things are taking a lot longer to come now. Pets at Home delivery seems to have been delayed from tomorrow to Monday and many Amazon next day delivery ites seem to be taking about 4 days. (Bin liners just 2.)

Royal Mail seems pretty good though. I ordered a cheer me up thing from M&S which took two days 2nd class, and the Mothering Sunday card posted yesterday after lunch arrived this morning.

by **Herbidacious** » March 21st, 2020, 10:54 am

Didn't wake up until about ten today, in spite of Lily's claws-out attempts to rouse me. (Well actually did wake up at 7 and got husband to feed them - it was his turn

)
Feeling a bit blah/what's the point, which is after just one week in to how many tens of, needs addressing.
Will get out into the garden in a bit. Sweet peas are coming up. Not sure when to take out of the propagator and/or take the newspaper off the top. Should I take them out one by one (they are in root training tubes) as they come up?
I should sow some seeds, but will see just how windy it is first!
I hope everyone's day goes ok.

aach my typing...!

by **scullion** » March 21st, 2020, 11:21 am

good morning, all.
windy, chilly and overcast.
i got a load of young broad bean plants planted out (in the (ex) barren wasteland) yesterday. i bought them as young plants from lidl a couple of weeks ago. they were the only ones left but looked quite healthy and survived rapid hardening off (being left outside after i'd bought them without any shelter) with no problem.
today, if the wind decreases a bit (the wind chill factor takes the temperature down to feeling like 3°c) i may go and do something in the garden. i have some seed potatoes to go in and that veg patch has done its yearly attempt at returning to the wild.
for dinner tonight, i'm making burmese tofu to go with thai-esque curry. we were introduced to it by a friend late last summer and have just remembered how good it was. i think we are entering a phase, as long as we have the ingredients, to try new things to keep life interesting.
have a good day, everyone.

by **Herbidacious** » March 22nd, 2020, 7:25 am

Morning. Cloudy at the moment. We had a pretty, red dawn. Not much sleep. (Insomnia at both ends of the night). I may have to scale back my grand plans for gardening today. I shall try and do a bit of digging/auguring though as I really wnat to plant out my honeyberry honeysuckle plants and Kniphofia. Need to do something with theeh sweet pea seedlings. Sow some more seeds?
I started writing a short story at 5.30am. Will try to finish it. (That will be a rare achievement for me if I do!)
Need to make a meal using a box of roast tomato passata from the freezer. Not sure what. Maybe something involving flageolet beans, and some herbs and cavolo nero from the garden...

I hope everyone's day goes well.

Scully I am attempting some more shorter jostaberry cuttings. The reason why it's difficult to send the originals is that they are over a foot long (doh) so I am not going to be able to post them without going to the post office and getting some special packaging and/or to hand over a home made box (which might not go through the post slot.) I do have a short poster tube, which might work if I can work out how much postage to put on it. Will scope out the post box at the post office today for compatability.)

by **scullion** » March 22nd, 2020, 9:52 am

Good morning, all.
Sunny - all day - lovely! Just what everyone needs.
Bread dough made last night and I've ordered cake, too.
Happy mothering Sunday to all of those of us who will be avoiding contact with their mothers or children today.
We will be having a chat over Skype.
I'm happy to have whatever, whenever, herbi, if it's not this year then I more than understand. The cuttings are not a necessity -although you could always cut the tops down to fit -otherwise, pot them up and put them out for another gardener to take from your doorstep.
Have a gorgeous day, everyone.

by **StokeySue** » March 22nd, 2020, 10:29 am

Good morning
Brilliant sunshine here
Will see if I can plant some seeds, worried about having enough compost to bring them on
Have a good day everyone

by **scullion** » March 23rd, 2020, 10:07 am

good morning, all.
sunny - bread will go out to be baked soon. i have ordered cake, too.
strangely, there's nothing planned for today - this may be the state for the foreseeable future. the highlight of the next month(s) may be the worming and flea treatment of the cats!
an interesting thing - although the f1 teams have bought forward their normal shutdown from august to april (when no teams are allowed to work on any aspect of racing/car development) the production workers are being called in to work and the teams are turning over their production systems to making ventilators.
i think a few garden 'teddies' may be a good idea, today (we both did the yoga session yesterday), the fitter we can stay, the better - going by the theory as to why the german figures are better than many other countries.
enjoy the sunshine but stay in your own garden if poss.
have another glorious day, everyone.

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