My Bushcraft Play Area!

[Toadflax]

I've staked a claim to a corner of our garden so that I can play at bushcraft . So while the rest of the family are watching USA Top Model or Castaway I'm the the bottom of the garden playing with my toys among the pixies and elves .

Here's the garden.

and here's my little play pen!!!

With my hobo stove made from an old baby milk tin (thanks to a link from BCUK: http://wings.interfree.it/html/sstove.html) and pot hanger, made from trimmings of a conifer that got too big...

...this is where I am learning how to light fires...

...and on Sunday morning while everyone else was still in bed, I had my porridge...

...cup of tea...

...and my piece of home cured bacon.

 

[Silverback]

Nice one mate - just goes to show that there really is no excuse for not getting out and practising your skills wherever you are. Why not tear down that fence matting and build yourself a shelter as well

 

[Toadflax]

No way!!!

I put the matting fence up there last year so I can't see next door's children bouncing on their trampoline!!! But I can still hear the squeak of the trampoline springs and their screams.

Which is where I start to wonder about a nice little wood burning stove when the wind is in the right (wrong) direction. Smoke should keep the flies away - I wonder if it would also keep trampoliners away...or maybe the sound of knife and axe being sharpened...



Geoff

 

[John Fenna]

Now that looks good - especially the bacon!
My wife already thinks I have taken up too much of "her" garden with my canoe racks, tree planting (for firewood, willow bark, chestnut leaves etc etc) not to mention our vehicles will never again see the inside of "her" garage thanks to my workbench, timber store, canoe kit racks etc etc and "her" "spare" room which holds my sewing machines, leather, fabric and fittings stores, camping and bushcraft kit etc etc, the various corners of "her" living room that hold my Bushcraft, ethnographic and archyology books, my office, my knife/musket/axe display, my expedition souveniers (those not on the walls of "her" "spare" room) etc etc.....
Ecky thump! I let her have all of "her" kichen and larder/utility (except for the shelves of hiking rarions/technical proofings etc etc of course) you would think she would be grateful - AND I allow her to clean the whole of "her" house, use MY cutting table to do the ironing, use MY computer to do the typing (as long as she does mine first) and I would never try to take over the gardening.
Blimy! It is not as if she is home much anyway! Her job takes her out of the house nearly everyday anyway, so I feel entitled to a proportionally large share of the house as I am here a lot more than she is, though to be fair she did pay for the house and pays all the bills so she is, I supose, allowed to feel that she should control some of the place.
SO, getting my own Bushcraft Corner of "her" garden is not realy on the cards....


Now I sit back and await the horrified letters from those who belive in "equality" he he he.....her!

 

[Toadflax]

My wife already thinks I have taken up too much of "her" garden with my canoe racks, tree planting (for firewood, willow bark, chestnut leaves etc etc) not to mention our vehicles will never again see the inside of "her"...

You're not by any chance Michael Palin - that diatribe sounds just like Monty Python!

And yes, the bacon was really good. Cooking over the wood fire gives it a nice smoky flavour. And it really is dead easy to make. I can tell you the quantities, but basically you mix up salt, sugar, bay leaves, juniper berrries and ground black pepper. Run this over the surface of the piece of pork (I used loin) and keep it in a bowl in the fridge. Next day pour off the liquid that has come out of the meat and rub in some more cure mix. Do this for 4 days, wash the bacon and hang it up to dry for 24 hours and there you have it.

When you cook it, you don't get all that white stuff that bubbles out when you cook Tesco bacon.


Geoff

 

[Pablo]

That's an excellent area. Well done.

Pablo.

 

[Goose]

Now that looks good - especially the bacon!
My wife already thinks I have taken up too much of "her" garden with my canoe racks, tree planting (for firewood, willow bark, chestnut leaves etc etc) not to mention our vehicles will never again see the inside of "her" garage thanks to my workbench, timber store, canoe kit racks etc etc and "her" "spare" room which holds my sewing machines, leather, fabric and fittings stores, camping and bushcraft kit etc etc, the various corners of "her" living room that hold my Bushcraft, ethnographic and archyology books, my office, my knife/musket/axe display, my expedition souveniers (those not on the walls of "her" "spare" room) etc etc.....
Ecky thump! I let her have all of "her" kichen and larder/utility (except for the shelves of hiking rarions/technical proofings etc etc of course) you would think she would be grateful - AND I allow her to clean the whole of "her" house, use MY cutting table to do the ironing, use MY computer to do the typing (as long as she does mine first) and I would never try to take over the gardening.
Blimy! It is not as if she is home much anyway! Her job takes her out of the house nearly everyday anyway, so I feel entitled to a proportionally large share of the house as I am here a lot more than she is, though to be fair she did pay for the house and pays all the bills so she is, I supose, allowed to feel that she should control some of the place.
SO, getting my own Bushcraft Corner of "her" garden is not realy on the cards....


Now I sit back and await the horrified letters from those who belive in "equality" he he he.....her!

Has she got a sister?

 

[Toddy]

D*mn that sounds like my house Well....except it's my stuff that clutters up everything I do leave him an entire couch and the tv and remote control all to himself though
It's good to know other folks play too, and grow walls to create a peaceful space; try a mix of ivy and loganberry, it looks great but it's got *teeth*

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Backyard Bushcraft]

next moot at your place then!!!!!!!

 

[Deleted 70]

wow that looks great, I think you need some darts tipped with sleeping remedy's now for the noise makers

 

[black_kissa]

Great place - what animals share it with you?

No way!!!

I put the matting fence up there last year so I can't see next door's children bouncing on their trampoline!!! But I can still hear the squeak of the trampoline springs and their screams.

... time to get some good smells going and draw them in - maybe they'll like bushcrafting with their neighbor more than the trampoline after all

Live and Love,
Anneke

 

[Toadflax]

For a suburban garden, I was amazed how far this little corner of the garden can transport me away from the world of TV, computers and all the other modern trappings. It's just a small patch in front of the greenhouse, almost out of sight at the back right hand end of the garden in my first photo.

If I go up there in the evening as it is getting dark, nobody else is out in their gardens and I can really feel as though I am away in a wood somewhere. My cats come and watch - one of them is very superior and pretends to be ignoring me, but the other little one is a real character and comes snuffling around the fire.

So far, I have seen hedgehogs and squirrels, and on one occasion I saw a bird of prey (not sure what) swoop down and catch and eat a starling in the middle of the lawn. All that was left was a few feathers and the beak!



Geoff

 

[Zodiak]

Your patch is almost as big as my garden!

She likes to keep it nice and neat, I could watch her for hours out there, and occasionaly I make her a cup of tea.

I do however have a mobile BBQ that never uses charcoal, and she can't understand why I want it so big

Last Friday I came home, hot, tired, fed up etc and found that mini-SWMBO was also fed up and decided to light a fire, using all my wood! I was going to get annoyed by she was so pleased to have lit it with just one match that I had to smile.

 

[John Fenna]

Has she got a sister?

Ah - yes she does! And unmarried at the moment!
A plump, diabetic retired ex-librarian who has never, ever been camping and lives in a small house with no garden in the middle of town....still interested? I can fix up a meet if you like!
John