The Last of the Winters preps. Smallholding UK.
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- This is the final stages of preparing for the winter months, after this im done with the garden until the new year. Next is getting ready for Yule, turning some of our homegrown stored food into a yuletide feast !
Hello all, thanks so much for popping by, the wood is all cut, the veg is in, we are ready for winter. Now the gardening has come to an end its time to finish of the renovations inside the cottage. I hope your all keeping well, keep warm, keep safe and take good care
Risky wetting the bottom of Electric Fences it might bite lol, oh I am so sorry you lost Chickens dam foxes :( maybe an Electric fence would help ?
Hey Gary do you get fox 🦊 poo, now that stinks. We had some on our back garden.
we have just purchased our smallholding :) we have 1.5 acres, its not been touched in years and is extremely uneven but we hope to have it sorted soon. your videos really help :) thank you
Good luck, don't feel too bad if the first few years are a mess we all have to start somewhere and without the mistakes you don't learn :)
@@MagicMarvin33 thank you .yes we realized very early on that its going to take a few years to get it up and running but its very exciting and i'm looking forward to the hard work lol.
@@kaylag5158 lots of hard work, failed crops and pests you didn't even know existed haha but yes its all an experience and in the end when you learn you are rewarded. Until you need to lean something else :P
Failure is the best teacher.
@@MagicMarvin33 totally agree! we had 1/4th acre allotment for 4 years and knew nothing when we first got it lol
made about a million mistakes but learnt from every one of them :) i now look at them as lessons rather than mistakes.
Hello Kayla, 1.5 acres will soon get used up over the years but a lovely great size ! ( just 3/4 here). I think pigs are really good for clearing the land for you, We used to have goats that also done a great job but poisonous plants need moving first, but im sure pigs can eat pretty much everything un like goats. Thanks and good luck on your smallholding. take good care.
Why has it took me this long to find this channel….bloody amazing you lot are. Got some great tips. I thank you 👍🏼
Hi, We are glad that you have now found us. We do try to answer all comments so if you have a question please feel free to ask. (Vicky)
Hi Gary. Sorry to know of your poultry losses owing to fox attack. We can't leave any birds out at night- ever, they would simply be supper.
I thought that it was human male pee that deterred foxes, hopefully you can keep them away. Great to see around your place, the geese are looking great! I enjoyed you further winter preparations. We have had some fairly heavy snow last weekend with very high winds.
Thanks for the latest vid. Take care. Be safe. Best. Johnny.
Hello Johnny, thanks for your update, i did hear about the high winds and snow up north, glad you ok. Luckily we manage to escape all of that and had only light winds here. There is still places with no electric up north ! not good ! Crazy weather seems to be becoming more common, this must be the climate change ? . Slide doors have now been fitted to huts so the birds get locked away every night. Thanks Johnny, keep safe, well and warm. take care.
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD Thanks Gary. We have been fine, no power outages (we have a gennie for such emergencies) Great to hear about the slide doors to your poultry huts. Stay safe. Johnny.
Brilliant as always Gary. 👍. Take care and look forward to the next one.
Thanks, Gary is working on getting a video out for Christmas but we are super busy here so his doing a bit of filming here and there and editing in the evenings. The poor soul has had to do everything for the last few weeks as I have been out if action. (Vicky)
The last time I went scrumping apples was when I was 12 (60 years ago!). How time flies. Great autumn video Gary and please let the fox live his life as a fox should. Cheers Mike.
Hello, yes scrumping is great fun even when you get caught ! these apples though never get picked or collected by anyone so it up to me to make good use of them ! the fox seems to have gone for now, my morning wee is rather strong !!! I hope you are keeping well Mike and enjoying your peace and quiet. As time goes by peace and quiet becomes so important. Good health to you and take good care. Thanks you Mike.
Love watching.you do make me laugh. Keep them coming
Thanks, Gary does try, Sometimes he tells me his plans and I just have no words hahah (vicky)
You gotta a nu variant in the pumpkin patch! Greetings to all the pure bloods out there. Have a good one!!
PS give a bottle cider from the apples to keep the farmer on side would be the go
Hello Mike, ha ha. the new variants are very tasty, I've saved the seeds, but they will probably change again ! better than butternut squash and more like sweet potato. I wish i new at the time she was the farmers wife, she did not say that and was quite unapproachable, it was not until i got a comment on here confirming she was. I love bartering and would have been happy to repay the favour. I have no idea where they live though. I was very friendly to her when talking. she hated me !! ha ha win some loose some. thanks for popping by Mike, happy new year to you. ( Yes I've not had the jab as I'm very fit and heathy with lots of organic veg and meat diet, also I'm an isolation enthusiast ! nearly 8 years in isolation here away from civilization, lovely ! )
I learn a lot from your videos Gary, thank you. So sorry about the chickens, chin up mate 😊😊
Hi Thanks for your comment. Gary tries very hard to find a good balance between informative and entertaining and it seems to work well. Mr Fox has not been back since he watered the fence so we are hoping that will be it for the time being. (vicky)
good job the millitary fence is not electric . good to see what you have been upto and your son making a guest apearance helping u go scrumping . take care and i look forward to seeing your next one
Maybe we should charge the fence up. Would give the fox more of a challenge, As the kids get older it is getting more and more difficult to get them in the videos but will will keep trying. (vicky)
The forgotten apple 🌳
I wonder what story it would tell if it could. I suppose the lady worried you were dumping trash or cutting wood or ???
She might have been having a bad week. Not everyone is as blessed with happiness as others. Good looking harvest. We had 1 1/2 days below freezing. I think my neighbors water hose broke. He had a massive icy patch that's melted as we are having a uncommon mild stretch of weather again.
Hello Karen, its lovely to hear from you hope your keeping well. I was very polite to her, she must have been having a seriously bad day ! but life is what you make it. Thanks for your weather update over there Karen, i am very interested is nature and weather. You could have gone ice skating if it had stayed ! ha ha , thanks and take good care
Most butternut squash varieties are hybrids anyway I.e. they will never grow tru to their parents shape etc. Most pure breed pumpkins/squashes/courgettes will cross pollinate unless you have them at least 200m away from the next variety
Thanks for this info Maciej. We ate our first hybrid butternut in a homemade Caribbean style veg curry, it taste pretty much like standard butternut. Thanks and take good care
Thank you again Gary and family for a wonderful video but sorry to hear for you chickens. We In fact we had the same thing going on with our vegetables. Our pumpkins looked more green than orange too. Now we know why thanks to you. 👍
Hi thanks for the comment, This is one of the things I love about being self sufficient , you learn so much as you go. It makes it all so worth while (vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD the need for a small hold is greater then ever, my family hope to achieve this one day soon. Have a good Christmas 🎄 to you and your family.
Hi Gary another informative video! Sorry about the chooks, human pee can also deter Rats as well apparently and Pure Blood sperm is expected to increase in value by 21,000%! I may have to change career to a full time wanker 😂
blah ha ha, Hello Fraser, i take it your still a pure blood and not had the sheep dip. It is starting to seem like its backfiring, 10,000 UK non cough related over the average deaths for the last 3 months, mainly heart attacks/ blood circulation. Data from sheep dip labs being withheld and getting leaked by whistle blowers and a huge increase in spontaneous abortions ! none of this is conspiracy crap, just mainstream news blackouts on this. These are true facts now coming out ! i know more people whos become very ill from the dip than those that have had the cough and died ! we had a roofer come to do a few repairs and was very ill after having it and has lost strength in his arms that is not coming back, he really regrets having it he told me, he is gutted ! Vic's friends wife was in I.C. with clots ! she posted this on Facebook when she pulled round and she got an instant ban for telling her story !! i am a pure blood myself but ive had the snip ! fuck it ! ha ha, im a fully fledged jaffer now ! Im not a denier of the cough or an anti vaxer, but i am sticking to science and common sense and waiting for the trials to be fully tested 100% over time ! just not the governments so called common sense ! I would not be surprised if this comment gets deleted. Keep safe and well, eat super healthy for a good immune system against the cough, take good care. Be free ! (im up to nearly 6 portions of organic veg most days and a spoon of cod liver oil for well over a year now ! super healthy ! )
P.S Eat lots of Vit D3 it's meant to be very helpful fighting the Bug ;P
Another great video Gary and congratulations on your new purchase health to drive it. Love to see if ur going to make use of that battery to store charge for the house as well as driving.
Hello Marcus, hope your keeping well, i have been thinking about this, im going to find out if its capable for reverse power. I would like one of them Tesla battery walls though to store our surplus solar power. Im going to be doing some research now. thanks and take good care.
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD look up bi directional charging. Nissan Leaf supports this from what I hear. Be interesting to get it up and going
Hello Gary, good to see you're well and getting organised for Winter. Such a shame about your birds! i expect they will be going in your freezer? The cheese stuffed chilli pepers sound lovely i will be giving them a try. All is good down here in Plymouth we were fortunate to have missed any of this weekends storm so very grateful for that.I do hope that we avoid another lockdown as looking forward to spending time with my family this Christmas. Fingers crossed! Best Wishes to you and your family. Stay safe warm and well this winter!
Hi
Sorry for the late reply Gary has been super busy. We escaped both of the recent storms unharmed which is very lucky. I'm pleased to see that you also missed it. I also am hoping that lockdown is not out in place. It was hard not seeing family last year. (vicky)
As always a really entertaining video Gary, sorry about your chickens. You should name the new variety of ‘squash’. 😃FREE APPLEA EXCELLENT 👍
Hello, Hope all is well at your end, You have really given me the bug for hunting reduced food ! ha ha, I now pop to our nearest little store on a Sunday evening to pick up the last change food ! ive been getting packs of sausages, bread, bags of potatoes and lots more all for just 10p each ! i love it ! ha ha, thanks Jill take good care.
Those damn foxes, they aint much better over here Gary! We were driving just last week late at night and saw a fox making a sharp exit from a neighbours farm with a chicken in his gob! I am hoping the fox fur the previous owner of my house left behind is some kind of effective warning/ deterrent! I kept it just in case.
Hi, Thanks for popping by and your comment. Its always sad to hear about Foxes getting in to Chicken runs. Since Gary watered the fences we have not seen it again.
A few people have suggested that we order lion Poo from the local zoo as that seems to keep other hunters away (vicky).
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD 😂 Lol, I have never heard the Lion poo one! Maybe Gary can eat a few lion bars and do the deed? 😂
Great vid as always Gary and crew. Time to shut the gaps for the winter. Sorry to hear about the chickens mate but good to see James and I note he has the cool haircut with the floppy fringe that all the teens have now. We are very middle aged now. Also happy birthday to Sophie. Love to all mate 👍👍
Hello Andy, its good to hear from you. Ha ha im past middle age ! im never going to make it to 100 ! just 4 years now for my workplace pension to kick in. Thanks for Sophie's birthday wishes, she had a good day, we went out to a posh restaurant, but i picked the most commoners food on the menu ! beer battered fish and chips, ha ha whilst the others went for the more luxury food ! i do love a real good bit of fish. I hope your all keeping fit and well. stay safe and warm, take good care.
Hey Gary, the things we do to protect our animals eh? 😆 seriously, so sorry about your chickens. I heard that Alpacas are excellent livestock guardians and their wool is sought after, if you don’t fancy goats again. We are planning goats in the near future for dairy. Looks like the pure bloods may be restricted from being able to access shops if the stories from other parts of the world are to be believed, so we’re getting prepared to be as self sufficient as possible. Even planning horses for transport, bought a horse trailer this week and have contacted friends to help us source some easy going horses that will tolerate absolute beginners that know nothing! Also about your squashes, the real seeds website has instructions on how to get pure blood seeds😉 from your squash and ensure you get fruits that haven’t cross pollinated - you have to isolate individual fruits and hand pollinate them, seems pretty simple, if a little faffy! Have fun with your restorations x
Hello Brighid, its lovely to here from you, hope all is well and from your comment it sounds like things are very well ! wow your are really getting organised for the future, that is great news. I'm sure that the more self reliant you are the future will be very prosperous. The system is getting some very big cracks now and i feel that its going to produce less freedom for those who rely upon it like you have mentioned. Its such a happy great life living of the land instead of the state ! back to the old ways ! thanks for the info on the seeds as well, that will help out a lot. I hope your new horse adventure goes well, I often have this thought of owning a horse and cart and the cart is enclosed with a super miniature wood burner inside for winter driving ! ha ha thanks and take good care, sorry a bit late getting back to you.
What you need is an alert watchdog to keep away the foxes. It does not have to be a large breed. You just need something that acts as an alarm bell when there is an intruder.
Hi
Yes as soon as the cats are no longer with us we will get a dog. I think we will get another cat to to keep the mice away. In the mean time maybe we could put James out of a night! (vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD Another solution would be two peacocks. They don't get rabies and they are just as effective as a watch dog.
You can buy lion dung from the zoo to deter foxes... Stay warm and well
Don't give him any ideas! He'll be on Netflix slandering Carol Baskin 😂
Hello Bry, ha ha yes my mum said the same. i wonder if ordinary cats poo would help ? , we are on a super tight budget at the moment as we have our electric care now and owe a little bit of money on it ! ahhhhh i broke the golden rule and now have a small debt ! Vicky talked me into it ! ha ha, thanks Bry take good care
Hello Fraser, i have no idea who Carol is , im going to google it. Life is very sheltered from the outside world ! ha ha and that's perfect for me. take care Helsteeds clan.
Your videos are keeping my smallholding dreams alive! Those stuffed jallypeeeeeeno peppers sound amazing x
Hi Ali, Thanks for stopping by. The Peppers are fantastic but its a bit like playing Russian roulette, we think that they have been cross pollenated as some are mild and some are blow your head of hot!! but you never know what your going to get until you bite into it. (vicky)
My vote is for a guard donkey it apparently works with sheep 😅 can you still eat chicken that’s been dispatched by a fox ? Especially when fresh ?
Hello Pebbles, its lovely to hear from you, hope your keeping well. I did not fancy eating the chickens, also someone mentioned that rabies could be in the dead meat ! not good ! If it was a desperate moment for food yes i would have cooked it very well then ate it. Keep safe and well, thanks and take good care.
Fabulous video and a good chuckle!! Hope you were able to freeze the chicken meat.
Sadly no, As the fox is know to eat other stuff that is a bit nasty we did not want to eat the birds that he had damaged due to the risk of the meat being contaminated.
Was a very sad sight, the thing that upset me was the chickens that survived as they had seen it all.
(vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD I'm so sorry Vicky, it must have been so traumatic for all of you as well as the chickens.
Good to see you both yesterday and thank you for the cup of tea. Really sorry to learn about the chickens being killed by the fox. As I mentioned I have had chickens killed before and it’s always horrible but I still respect the fox.
I hope Sophie had a great birthday.
Thankfully we didn’t get the storm down in this part of the country.
Take care of yourselves 😊
Hi Dan
Was good to see you to,
She had a great birthday thanks. Did not see a lot of her as at 16 mates are more fun then parents! (vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD of course friends are more important at that age 😂. I vaguely remember being that age.
Nice one Gary good to see the art of Suffolk Scrumping is still alive but sad about your chickens. Could you use any of the dead birds after they were attacked by the foxes ? Even if you use it to feed the cat 🐈? How is the wood supply going ? And did you survive the storm this week ? Looking forward to your Christmas Special 🥳 take care my fellow Suffickers 😉 Trev
Hi, Sorry for the late reply its been very busy here. I had a operation so Gary has been doing everything whilst I recovered. the birds were sadly no good for food as you don't know what germs the fox may have and do not want to pass anything onto the cats. The wood supply is going down quick as the weather has turned very cold. Gary is working on a Xmas video but running out of time. we got away with no damage from the storm. I did not seem to hit us like other parts of the country so we are very lucky. Hope your both keeping well (vicky).
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD Hi Vicky, loved your reply, hope you are recovering well and coping with winter pressures. We are fine and still roaming around in our new van conversion. Have a wonderful Christmas 🎄 Trev
Sorry about your ,chickens! That’s my biggest worry with the ducks!
Hi, Thanks for the comment. We have lost a few ducks but they normally run to the pond and swim around the middle so the fox does not get them. The ones we have lost have been sitting on nests at the time which was double sad as duckling's were hatching and did not all survive. (Vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD is that since the chicken thing? Oh looks like the goats did wonders
Thanks for the very entertaining informative vids - very interesting to see the various jobs you need to do on the smallholding, as I’ve moved to France, and hope to do have a similar way of life, away from the trappings and distractions of the big bad world out there :-))) As a matter of interest, how do you to get money to survive - I understand your expenses must be low, but you must need some money - hope you’re able to answer, as I’m currently figuring out my route map ;-))))
Hi, Thanks for your comment and we hope that you manage to get set up over in France when the time comes.
As for our income, we have for the Last 10 years fostered children that need a stable home. It can be very hard work but worth it. Vicky does most of this side of it along with the paperwork. As well as that we have started buying stuff at the bootsales and repairing it to sell on ebay. We have fingers in a lot of pies but all are little pies haha. Hope that helps to answer you (Vicky)
Sorry to hear about your chicken/fox problem.. not good... Looks like a great idea, taking the apples that no one else wants.. not sure what her problem was, probably just another Karen, we have loads of them up here.. drive you daft they would. Good bumper crop of Peppers, though I will pass, official wimp here... take care all, Hope Vicky is recovering well from her operation.. catch you on the next one x
Hi Lindsay, We hope that you are both well. Mr Fox has not been back yet so we are keeping our fingers crossed on that. Karen's do seem to be about more now (I kinda feel sorry for people called Karen!). I am recovering well from the op thanks, It is still weak but making good progress. (vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD good to hear no more Mr fox and you ate recovery from your operation. We are both well thanks xx
Best way to stop a fox is to get a dog that sleeps outside
I want a dog and once the cats are old and pass over then I will get one, I think i'm to soft to keep it out, Gary would end up sleeping on the sofa as I have the dog in the bedroom with me haha (vicky)
Hi Gary, the top of that wine bottle looked a bit narrow, just saying.
HI, That's a really good point. I hope he did not use a funnel!!! (Vicky)
Can't beat a bit of scrumping, at least you weren't after her cherry...
arhhhhh ! ha ha ha yuk ! it turns out she was the farmers wife. I was very polite, if only she had said, i would have given her a free bottle or two of the apple and ginger wine for christmas, she was very unapproachable ! thanks Alex take food care
🤣🤣 You got caught by the land owners wife.. I've got to be careful what I say we rent our house off her.....
Hello John, its great to here from you, hope your keeping well. wow she needs to cheer up a bit, i was very very polite to her, she was quite rude, but after all i was on the edge of her land. I wish she had said she was the farmer/wife of the farmer and land owner. I would have done a bit of bartering like a very large bag of fire wood, ducks to eat or something similar, even a few bottles of the wine i have made from them. Well all i can say is good luck on the renting ! thanks John keep safe and well, take good care
Might of thought you were Rabbiting or disturbing a Badger set? Farmers have to put up with all kinds of Pikies worrying livestock, breaking into barns, damaging boundaries and such. I know one who had to chase off Doggers with a shotgun. Maybe you could have a Wassail in the Nu Year?
Hello, yes a good point, i did not think of that ! ha ha doggers !! not good ! I would love to know what variety of apple this is as its so so sweet and great for fresh apples in December. Im thinking of putting a small rooting clamp on a branch, but i will ask the farmer for permission, or even a grafting cutting. thanks and take good care.
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD difficult to say with such a short look, but if I were to hazard a guess I'd say Winter Gem = late, pink flushed eater, bred in Kent in the 80s.
@@crispcider thanks so so much for the information i will look out for this type of tree and try my hardest to order one as im desperate for a late variety. that's what this RUclips community is all about ! thanks for your help, keep safe and warm.
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD try and find a local nursery (rather than garden centre) and get something barerooted (rather than potbound) to plant Jan/Feb. Cox Orange Pippin probably a more common late one.
Happy new variant to you too! Who would have known that in the year 2021 that actually being a wanker for some people would pay off. Sadly though most of the real wankers went along with the sheeple as is the norm for wankers....anyway. Do I know you? .....lol I love Suffolks Toffs. I used to make it my duty to prevent them killing the foxes and hares around my village when I used to live there ;) The fox hunters take more of the piss than your fence does with their 40 odd dogs running off the lead along the A14 and causing road traffic incidents.
Hello, ha ha, youtube hid this comment ! but ive manage to find it in the waiting for approval section, Ha ha suffolk toffs ! yes plenty off them round here and im the riff raff ! 14 chickens down but at least the fox family did not go hungry that morning. Its all part of nature in my eyes, but the pointless killing did piss me of a little, i wish he just took a couple to eat and left the rest. sorry for a late reply, thanks and take good care
Joys of farming.. Sorry about the birds.. At times I wish they would be sneaky and just run off with one and not kill so many.. I've had hens die from the stress of an attack.. Hope the pee works
HI, Yes we can relate to that. Its never nice to go and and discover so many dead birds. I know its natures way but it is a downside. So far the fox has not returned so Gary's wee is working (vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD Heya Vicky, nice to get a message form you.. How's that cold weather treating you all?
Hi Gary, so sorry to hear bout your chickens. Must have been gutting for you. I have a question, sorry if I am being thick but has I said before we are new and eager to learn. When you were talking about how your 'saved seeds' had cross pollenated but that pure shop brought seeds wouldn't do that, I was wondering why they act so differently and is there anything you can do to prevent saved seeds from cross pollenating?
Hi Gary is super busy so has asked me to help answer the comments so I will try with this one but I'm not as bright as him! My basic understanding is that if you have 2 types of plants from the same family grow closely together they can cross pollenate. This is what has happened to us as we had pumpkins and butternuts very near to our courgettes. so now we have seeds that are a mix of the lot. When you bye from a seed shop they tend to grow them away from others so this can not happen. I hope this helps (vicky)
@@ESCAPINGTHEMATRIXFORGOOD thanks Vicky. With you guys being so busy I really appreciate the response. Xxx
Get yourself a fox whistle and a 12 gauge Gaz, failing that we use alpacas over here, they scare the shit out of Mr Fox the red menace. Ive lost a few in the past, those that did not come in for night time lock up
Hi, We have thought about getting goats again as they also seem to keep the fox away. Not sure the gun is a good idea as Gary has a bad aim hahaha (vicky)
Have you tried reselling / ebay? Going to bootsales, buying stuff cheap, and flipping it? I've started doing it and think it would mix well with smallholding.
HI yes we do that now, Its actually interesting and I enjoy cleaning the stuff we get and making it look ready for resale. You can find some really interesting bits at bootsales
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Thanks Jim, hope your keeping well. keep safe and warm.
Mate when your scrumping and someone comes it’s etiquette to run off, schoolboy error
Blah ha ha ! nice comment, i enjoy a good laugh ! thanks Nigel, take good care
why doesn't the fox take the birds to eat? he just kill them and walk off?:(
Hi, Thanks for the question. The basic answer to the best of my knowledge is that they get in to the chicken run and kill the lot to silence them. They then will only take what they can carry. sometimes they come back again to collect the others.
I hope that helps to answer you (vicky)
get a dog?
I really want a dog, I grew up with border collies and really want one. However my cats are scared of dogs and it would just not be fair on them. Once they are old and no longer with us we will get one (vicky)