Nancy Reading

I had baked potatoes for dinner today and was disappointed to find they had big cracks inside. They looked perfect on the outside (and tasted fine!). I suspect that this will mean they won't store very well. What is likely to have caused this?
We had a fairly cool summer this year, maximum temperature about 22 celsius, (72 Fahrenheit) but usually quite a bit less, with no prolonged dry spells. Reasonably normal for my area. They were planted in a new growing area which turned out to be rather acidic with poor soil nutrients, but the potatoes got old sheep manure top dressing; some when planting, some a little later.
I've eaten the evidence, but will try and take a picture of some other tubers soon.

Pearl Sutton wrote:Feed bags are made of plastic mesh, they can be sewn. Chip bags are made of Mylar, which is why they are shiny inside and they don't sew, they rip really really well if you perforate them. Not sewable.  

Mylar seems to be metallised PET (polyethylene terephthalate) which sounds scary, but is basically Carbon and Hydrogen again, but with Oxygen atoms as well. It is basically the same stuff they tend to make pop bottles from.

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It melts at a higher temperature than polythene, so would be more difficult to fuse the packets, but otherwise the comments about polythene packets would still apply. I don't think you could sandwich this with plastic so easily either since I think sheet PET is less commonly available, but maybe as mylar is stronger, it wouldn't be so neccessary?

In the UK it seems most crisp (chip) bags are made of Polythene with a metal (Aluminium) layer to make them more air resistant (and less recyclable ) to make the crisps last longer. Poiythene is pretty innocuous as plastics go - just a Carbon and Hydrogen chain, so unless there are additives to the plastic (like colours and demoulding agents...) any fumes given off are not worse than wood smoke. However, you wouldn't want to breathe that in either! In the website linked in the video that organises making survival blankets for people sleeping rough (crisp packet project) they suggest if you're making a whole blanket to use a special facemask, or do it in a very well ventilated area. The individual packets apparently iron together with hardly any fumes, but they then laminate them into a stronger material for the survival bags, with an extra layer of polythene either side and that may generate more fumes thus a mask/ventilation is wise.

crisp packet project items

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I'd be interested in the reflective nature of the material - good for lining a seed starting area to give seedlings more surround light. You could put some behind wall radiators (not really hot ones, like wood stoves, but ones using hot water for example) to reflect more of the heat back into the room. A windscreen shield, as Burra suggests, is another great use - they would make easy removeable sheets to stick in house windows too to reflect heat in or out depending on the season. Maybe over a greenhouse in winter to keep warmth in.... If it weren't for the likely flammability of them I'd suggest they could make good heat barriers in other parts of the house too, but I think that would be advisable only in emergency situations, not as a long term solution.

Off topic: I remember as a child we found out that if you put a crisp packet under the grill (toaster?) they would shrink and you could make miniature crisps packet badges, although I'm not sure why you would want to !!

I've never seen a laid hedge 10 foot thick Lawren, and I don't know how much you'd actually gain by it. Most of the fresh growth would be in the sides of the hedge as the inner and lower branches get shaded out (hence the need to re-lay the hedge every few years). The act of laying makes the hedge dense so even 2 - 3 feet gives a good screen. Some broadleaved leaves retain their leaves over most of winter (and some are evergreen) Oak and Beech are the ones that come to mind as retaining their leaves here until spring sometimes. I don't know whether that is helpful for your climate though.

Montgomeryshire style hedge newly laid - image from UK National hedgelaying site

You might find the UK National Hedglaying site useful here for example is an explanation of different ways of laying hedges.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:There’s more to learn, and there’s a thread that tells it all, but being an old woman and not tech savvy, I will leave it for someone else to direct you there.

This is a good thread to start with: https://permies.com/w/how-permies-works  Welcome to permies S. Kennedy, I'm glad you joined us! I'm not too tech savvy either, but permies is a safe place to learn about all sorts of things!

Chance Lunceford wrote:What would also be cool is a class teaching how to make those things with the fruit you just picked.

I was just going to suggest a make your own slushy/smoothie!

Sigh, why do they make it so complicated!

I'm by no means an expert, but here's a few thoughts for what they're worth.

Get on with your neighbours so they know what you are doing.

One form of protection may be to have some sales of goods. No matter how small, if you have a honesty box, or a monthly market stall then you are a producer of food, which ought to help. Keep records.

Talk to your local planning officers. There may be some support for production of local food, even if only for own use. You can do this informally. The laws generally are there to protect open land and prevent urban sprawl, so they may be able to advise on how likely you are to get permission for what you want to do.

Look into crofting laws. If the land is not currently a croft, you may be able to get it designated a croft and that is much more a household based land use I believe. Although this area of law as I understand it is very complicated, much less likely to be complained against. Often the crofts are owned by absentees and just go to bracken and semi feral sheep, which is supposed to be forbidden, but is rarely addressed.

Gilly Burke,
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