What to do with soil that's got coal in it - Page 2

grrrr, figrat!  now what do i do with my 25 million seeds! now i have to buy clover! or maybe i could cover the phacelia with straw or bubblewrap? the neighbours would appreciate that!

Horticultural fleece is the way to go!  Although in deepest, darkest Yorkshire it was down to nearly freezing last night (yup, in AUGUST!!), if you get it sown and established it's worth a go.  I bought a mahoosive bag of the stuff, I think it was from poundstretcher, it could have been wilko or ebay though.  If there's anyone like me that tends to buy a lot of things though t'interweb, ALWAYS use the topcashback portal, I've made nearly £90, and that's buying things I would have bought anyway.  But as a Yorkshirewoman I'm very 'careful' with what I buy and where from!

MMP! topcashback? topcashback?  what is? once I'm out of my double thick dressing gown (dont know how many degrees we are but I'm COLD) I shall get down to my local poundstretcher and buy some fleece. I suppose it would be too much to hope that it's green and won't look like I've spread the ground with old duvets?

figrat - yes, i think we probably have loads of agricultural/farm type shop places as we're quite rural down 'ere, i just have to find one. with all these green manure seeds, do you just throw them on the ground or do you have to drop them in tiny holes and then cover them up, or do you have to soak them in water like with sprouting, or will they come with instructions on the packet?    

ah, that's more like it. i like the raking over bit, nice and easy. i should actually be out there doing it now, instead of checking my emails!  

Google topcashback.  It's a site that gives you money back on most things you buy online (if the merchant is signed up to it).  I regularly buy things from ASDA direct, Debenhams, ebay and QVC.  As long as you go via the topcashback site, you will get a small percentage of your money back, it all adds up.  As a bonus, if you take the money as amazon vouchers, you get an extra 5% on top.  I use this religiously and use the amazon vouchers for things like kids' birthday presents for all the parties the little ones get invited to.  It adds up and it comes in very handy, as with 2 kids and a land rover addiction I'm always skint as trousers.

skint as trousers?  i LOVE that phrase - i never heard it before! is it yours, i mean, did you make it up? can you tell me about it, i mean, if you made it up, then how and why and if you didnt and it's a local saying, what/where/how does it come into being?

i'll have a look at topcashback - never heard of that before, either (we mainly spend our time chewing straws down here in kent). i buy lots from amazon (have never been able to get a grip with ebay) so I'll go via the topthingy - ha ha i just reread you have a land rover addiction - ha MMP you are so funny! that's great! 

hey MMP - just remembered you are in Yorkshire - i was born there!  Catterick Camp (army brat)

Well, I'm almost in the Midlands.  Near to where I live there is a place called Shireoaks, because before the ridings borders were re-drawn, the village had 3 large oak trees in it, one in Nottinghamshire, one in Derbyshire, and one in Yorkshire.  Yorkshire is mahoosive though, so you get everything going on there, and I love the changes in scenery, from the vale of York with it's massive cereal fields, to the bleak beauty of the moors, and places like winnet's pass.

Now, as for Skint as Trousers, it's not mine, but I do think it's a yorkshire saying, as blokes will generally empty out their trollies before putting them in the laundry.  Yorkshire women will then double-check said trousers for the odd tissue laying in wait to ambush the rest of the washing with fluff, and the fairly hopeless possibility that their old man has left a tenner in the pocket.  So, I think that's where skint as trousers comes from.

Unfortunately there's no known cure for a landy addiction.  You can make a small fortune from a land rover - as long as you've a large fortune to start with!

i just googled shireoaks and see it's worryingly near Rhodesia!!!! I left Catterick when I was two, so minimal memories really but its still in the blood. i had a second hand dead posh V8 Land Rover Discovery once which practically bankrupted me (I couldnt afford to have it serviced or even buy new tyres) - then I couldn't sell it and could only part-exchange it for .... a royal blue Proton!!! The V8 used to belong to Rosa Monkton (Princess Diana's mate) and the bonnet had a little ding in it which I liked to think was from Charles chucking a brick at it. I used to pretend to be the queen when I drove it, royal wave and everything. when i got the ghastly blue proton i changed the wave to a V sign - seemed more appropriate. on a gardening note - just in case we're breaking gardnersworld protocol by mere chatting - I just found a packet of edelweiss seeds from 1980. do you think they'll grow?

You could try them, but as they're old enough to vote, I think you're flogging a dead horse.  or dead seeds.

If chatting gets us chucked off, my days are numbered, as I'm having a bit of an eco-rant on the get rid of your lawns forum.  So I'll probably be asked politely to do one soon, or get accused of being a troll.  Still, I'm used to it, the car Hubby drives (or used to until the gearbox broke, and the new one is still hiding behind the sofa) is a 5 litre beast of a range rover.  We have to run it on autogas, to run it on petrol would bankrupt us.  I do have to remind himself we have the van on the back, the car just sets off and goes 'Home's that way, I'm off!)

The funniest thing is beating GTI's away from traffic lights.  hey, I can go fast AND anywhere (as opposed to my car, which is not particularly fast, but will just keep chugging away through anything).  The big blue thing we've got needs to be re-bodied, but when we had the floods in sheffield, we were OK, it's got a 2 inch lift with camber correction, air-locking diffs and a snorkel.  We've even pulled lorries out of puddles with that.

Anyway what are you doing sitting here chatting?  Off outside with you, forthwith, to see how much coal you have in your garden!! (I might be round later, to pinch it, if there's lots)!

You can allus tell a Yorkshireman, but you can't tell him owt.

my mum always used to tell me 'yorkshire born, yorkshire bred, strong in the arm and thick in the head' bless her. i had therapy so i'm ok now!

i considered getting my Green Beast converted to gas but I still couldnt have afforded  to run it. the proton's gone now thank god. got a red renault with a bit in the back for the dog. or the mother. the car's gutless at traffic lights but that might be because i usually drive with the hand brake on, or pull away in 3rd.

can everyone see our messages? how does this work? well, surely we won't be kicked out unless someone tells on us? they wouldnt, would they? WOULD THEY?

I guess as long as we keep mentioning our gardens they can't kick us out. I still have coal in my front garden.

if I can navigate this site I'm going to check out your rantings about getting rid of lawns and I might join in! ekky thump.

If you scroll back up to the top and click on 'latest posts' the thread about getting rid of lawns is still on the first page.  It's partly because I really believe in doing my bit for the environment, partly because as a Yorkshirewoman I have short arms and deep pockets, and partly because I have a big stirry stick I can't resist using sometimes.

I can't see us getting told off, cos in effect what we're doing is having a natter over the garden fence.  Except indoors where it's warm and I can stop the two little ones destroying my house/killing each other/ giving the neighbours a rates rebate with the noise they create.  Oh, and have a coffee whilst talking to someone that's not forever asking why, what, how (the 4 year old), or screeching because her brother's pinched her toy and her bottom's wet.  Bad mummy, using the laptop whilst her child is wet/poopy.  I'm off for a clean nappy and a peg for me shnozz!

I found you! (not in a stalking way) and I joined in about the lawn! actually it's not something i've really thought about, so i just had a little shout so as not to feel left out.

going to take the dog walkies now. just like a 4 year old but instead of constant demands I get big sad eyes and meaningful sighs and when that doesnt work, a hefty nudge with a large black nose!

yes! it's just like a garden fence, isnt it? I'm standing on a chair though because the fence is a bit tall. I'll probably fall off in a minute and smash the laptop.