The Retirement Thread

[IaninSheffield]

Mornin' all.
Rain just started persisting down, which would seem to confirm the weather forecast, which also says it will have passed over by lunchtime. Fingers crossed.

 

[numbnuts]

 

[Dirk]

Morning all.
Sid's having a lie in.

 

[Paulus]

Morning all, got woken up by the rain battering on my bedroom window at about 4.30 am, MrsP is in a foul mood because she was woken up by the people across the road who seemed to be moving out/doing a moonlight flit at 2 am and making a lot of noise doing it.
Ladt nights quiz night went well, we came second and won £23. That's next week's entry and half a round of ale taken care of.

 

[PaulSB]

@Paulus that's good. At our quizzes it's a bar of chocolate for last and a box of chocolates for first!

 

[PaulSB]

Decision made. I'm staying home. Even if the rain stops we will get soaked from spray - not all my buddies are sufficiently courteous to use mudguards.

Forecast is excellent Saturday to Monday. I shall do stuff to free up those days.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

 

[Dave7]

Hello world. It's rained solidly since 5.20, at least. Just stopped.

Decisions. Decisions. I had decided not to cycle due to rain. I now need it to either start raining again or clear up ASAP. I have one hour to decide.

Yesterday I spotted my winter planted garlic has begun to grow. Always the first thing to get going. The spring varieties have been despatched so should arrive in time to plant before our trip. Excellent.

A good and long-standing friend from Connel (near Oban) arrives for an overnight stop this afternoon. Looking forward to this.

Serious question. Hope I've not asked this before as I have thought about.
Why does anyone grow garlic?
My reasoning is that its so cheap to buy and I can't imagine anyone muching their way through Kgs of it.
Please correct my thinking (gently though).

 

[Dave7]

Morning all.
Sid's having a lie in.

Probably sulking.
Have you been reading our comments to him?

 

[Dave7]

Raining here as well.
Sorry to moan but my bum & left leg decided to 'get' sciatica during the night. I have been up and down since 03.30. Doing all the stretches etc which seem to work but it comes back a short while later.
Off to Costco shortly. If we get there early enough there is free coffee and cakes. I dont normally eat cake but their blueberry muffins are rather yummy.
I am rather partial to a nice muffin

 

[gavroche]

Off to Costco shortly. If we get there early enough there is free coffee and cakes. I dont normally eat cake but their blueberry muffins are rather yummy.
I am rather partial to a nice muffin

Is it the one next door to Bookers, off the M56? We go there sometimes but it costs me a fortune every time we go. Christmas is a good time to go as you can go round and taste all their apetizers and feel like you had a meal when you come out.

 

[Dirk]

Yay, it's Fish Friday!

I'll bring Sid a doggie bag back. That might cheer him up a bit.

 

[Dave7]

Is it the one next door to Bookers, off the M56? We go there sometimes but it costs me a fortune every time we go. Christmas is a good time to go as you can go round and taste all their apetizers and feel like you had a meal when you come out.

No, this one is at Haydock. Jcn 24?? off the M6.
We go for specific things plus any offers that jump out.
Their guaranty is amazing. We have had our Tefal Actifry for 5 years and they have replaced it twice, no quibble.

 

[PaulSB]

Serious question. Hope I've not asked this before as I have thought about.
Why does anyone grow garlic?
My reasoning is that its so cheap to buy and I can't imagine anyone muching their way through Kgs of it.
Please correct my thinking (gently though).

Good question Dave and probably best answered by my overall philosophy on all my veggies.

1. I'm only feeding two people so want enough fresh and to freeze till the next crop is ready - up to 9 months generally. I want to avoid waste.
2. Grow crops were the flavour is enhanced by home growing
3. Only grow crops which can be successfully stored
4. Grow crops which are expensive to buy

The allotment is large, 40% of it down to grass as there's enough room to start a small market garden! With all the other stuff I have going on up there probably only 35% is used for vegetable growing. If I grow too much of anything it gets wasted. First I grow things with enhanced flavour (e.g. asparagus, tomatoes, strawberries), then crops which are expensive (e.g. most soft fruits), then crops which store well (e.g. frozen beans, kale, etc. onions, garlic dried).

I grow garlic because I have the space to grow 12 months supply, it stores well, I can grow better flavoured varieties and it gives me a lot of satisfaction! Ticks all the boxes. If I was pushed for space as a cheap thing to buy it would get dumped.

If we discussed potatoes I could easily grow a year's supply and the flavour would be great. BUT they are difficult to store for an amateur and are cheap as chips in the shops. If I have a bit of space I chuck some in but nothing more than to fill the space.

 

[PaulSB]

Just as an aside are you all aware any fresh fruit or veg you buy in a supermarket will have been chilled? The purpose is to prolong shelf life. For many items, but not all, the chilling process breaks down the sugars in the fruit or veggie. It is the sugars which underpin and provide the flavour. Break down the sugars and it starts to destroy the flavour. The tomato producer I worked for grew tomatoes with unbelievable flavour but after chilling? No flavour.

Anything I grow will be more flavoursome than can be bought in a supermarket simply because it is straight out of the ground. A second consideration is I can grow varieties for flavour - this is not case in supermarkets. A tomato is bred to be uniform in shape and size, long shelf life, high and long yielding, resistant to a range of pests and diseases - if it happens to taste good as well that's a bonus. Why? It's because we demand/expect food to be cheap and believe a perfectly shaped, blemish free tomato is better. Bollocks!

To avoid this try to buy on a market or farm shop. It's not a guarantee but it helps. Not all supermarkets are like this, there are exceptions. Booths for example get freshly dug potatoes from grower to store in 24 hours or less - no need for storage but damned hard work!