Hello from Leicester

[tg54]

I have just decided to dig up our lawn and remove the 50 plus 3 x 2 slabs we laid last year and convert to self sufficientish way of life

I started university as a mature student last October and we now have no money - I was on nearly 20k a year!! Must be mad but hated the 9 to 5 office routine.

Anyway, my husband and two children are 100% behind me so have decided to try and do the best I can to save money whilst I am not earning any.

Thought I would say hello to you all and if you have any tips about what I should or shouldn't do with our back garden, please let me know

It is thick clay soil and will need a lot of work to get it anywhere near decent but I have already started a compost heap and wormery (last October).

I will be reading as many of these posts as possible to get some ideas.

Cheers guys!
Tina

[Millie]

and welcome Tina!

[pixieface]

Hi Tina,

I have sent you a PM in reply to the entry you put on my entry. Get in touch and we will see what we can do to 'educate' you in self sufficiency.

If you do a search under my name you will find some of the other posts I have put on the board about various things.

[pixieface]

Tina,

Go to the top of this page and you will see a thing that says you have a private message, click on it enter your details and you should find the message there.................its under the selfsufficientish.com heading.

[Andy Hamilton]

hello there tina and welcome to the site.

[Millymollymandy]

Hi Tina and welcome.

Thick clay soil - not had the pleasure of that (?) as I usually struggle on sandy soil.

Why not post this question as a new topic cos there must be some folk who have this kind of soil who could help. What you do need, for any kind of soil, is as much compost/muck in it as possible!!

[tg54]

Thanks for all the welcome message - you do seem a very friendly bunch.

Also, thanks to a link on here I am hopefully about to get some free wooden pallets for construction of a chicken run through freecycle - never heard of it before!

I will post a message about clay soil and where to get muck from in Leicester - thanks Millymollymandy!

Cheers for now
Tina

[Shirley]

hello and welcome to the site!!

[Wombat]

G'Day Tina,

I struggle with good old Sydney clay every day! Invest in some gypsum, dig it through and that will break it up!

Nev

[Ranter]

Hiya Tina,
Had friends visiting, so access to pc was limited (it's in the spare room) hence only just seeing your message...

According to a professional gardener acquaintance, most of Leicester has clay soil. Most of my garden is paved, so all veg & herbs are in pots. Leics County Council sells compost at a good price, made from the green waste collected at tips. I don't know where to get it from, but the LeicsCC website should help.

Sorry I can't be more help, I'm so tired after my friend's visit (or rather, after a week with her 9yr old daughter) that I'm not functioning too well today.
Cheers

[WitchypooNo2]

Oh I used to live near leics!! My Mum still does and is constantly complaining about her soil. She got so fed up with one of her beds that she dug it out and replaced it with luffly top soil! But failing that I know the CC does dosome good green offers and failing that get some pigs!! They do a lovely job of churning up the soil, of course you can;t grow anything on it or they will eat it/trample it but give them a couple of years and they will improve the soil...eventually. sorry I'm not much help but you have my sympathies!!!!

[tg54]

Thanks again folks for your advice, I will certainly look into gypsum and leicester council website!

Unfortunately can't get pigs though - not enough room and I think the neighbours would complain!!!

I hope you feel better soon Ranter!

Cheers
Tina

[shiney]

Welcome Tina!

Freecycle is the best place to get stuff like pallets. Pity you aren't nearer, we have lots of them that all of my other half's landscaping stuff arrives on. We put a load on Freecycle the other day and got shot of them within an hour.

Good luck with taming your soil.