Rosa Parker

Sebastian Köln wrote:I don't think using natural rubber will give you the best results as it will break down under UV light and then you just have a broken hose.

Look for food save epdm (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber hoses used in food manufacturing. They should last a decent amount outside (ideally, don't leave it in the sun).

I used epdm rubber on a green roof many years ago, and it did very well, causing my to suggest trying to find a hose made from it. However I could not find anything.

Looking in german for "Trinkwasserschlauch" gives some decent results.

https://www.quarzflex.de/Quarzflex-Trinkwasserschlaeuche (4€/m)
https://www.sani-flex.de/profiline-aqua-plus-meterware-1-2-zoll/a-3035/10m (6€/m)
https://gastro-brennecke.de/Trinkwasserschlauch-1-2-Zoll-Rehau-KTW-DVGW-20-Meter (5€/m)

Thank you, I appreciate the research. This is a decent alternative. Seems that it largely depends on how the hose is stored, how much degradation will happen with UV (rubber, I mean).

Cristo Balete wrote:I recently bought a garden hose that was no-kink.  Sounds handy enough.

What didn't show on the packaging until I got it home, cut it off, and read the inside, was you have to Wash Your Hands every time you use it!  Seriously?  Why didn't that show on the outside before I bought the thing?  Why would they make a garden hose that could easily be used for vegetables out of something that is too dangerous to handle???

I did find a rubber hose, the only one that didn't have a Danger warning on it.  It does kink, but being careful and unwinding it slowly lessens that.

When I did some research I thought the US had better options for rubber hoses than Europe. As for your other experience, I do not get it either - clearly that stuff shouldn't go anywhere near plants people could eat! And if it's that dangerous, they should make the message clearer on the packaging.

John C Daley wrote:Can I ask why?

Trying to find the least offensive option in terms of health, environment. Especially with microplastics rampant. But I understand there might be caveats with other materials.

Matt McSpadden wrote:Can you get things shipped from Amazon.de? I found a few things on there that claim to be natural rubber. On the other hand, I don't know what kind of hose or what size you are looking for.

https://www.amazon.de/s?k=natural+rubber+hose&crid=NA1BHPKSBQWD&sprefix=natural+rubber+hose%2Caps%2C139&ref=nb_sb_noss

Thank you, looks  like there might be some decent options. It's meant as a garden hose.

Does anyone know of any natural rubber hoses that are sold in Europe? It seems incredibly difficult to find. We're in Sweden.

Oh silly, I forgot there's no location showing!! We are in the North East of England!

Thanks for all the responses so far!

I also feel like the wood chips idea depends on the rainfall during that period. Unfortunately, there's no telling, it's very unpredictable. We can definitely go one to two weeks without rain during summer. We just had a pretty intense heatwave, like most of Europe. But it's also possible to have rain on most days during a certain week.

Next month our family will leave for 12 days and we currently have pumpkins and strawberries growing. They're doing really well. My husband thinks that mulching will be enough for them to survive this period but I'm nervous... He suggested something like wood chips, which appear to be good for moisture retention. Will this really be enough for 12 days?? Does anyone have experience of using just mulch over a period of one to two weeks?

Thank you both, I'm looking into it!

Hi everyone. Recently I got some hawthorn seed and apparently it takes a long term to germinate, through a process of stratification.

The seller of the seed sent this advice:

Left naturally they germinate in the second spring after falling from the tree, so to imitate this, we suggest putting the seed in a polythene bag with the same volume of moist sand. Some growers rub the seed quite hard with sand paper before putting in the bag. Add the water gradually and if you get it too wet, just add more sand. You don’t want the seed to drown! Tie the top loosely.

The bag needs to be kept somewhere at room temperature for 30-90 days (sorry we can’t be more specific with this! Each batch is different) . I would be going for about 7 weeks, regularly shaking the bag to aerate the seed and adding slightly more moisture if it’s drying out.

Then the bag needs to be put in the fridge(not freezer) for about the same length of time, again shaking it regularly.

Sow in good quality soil based compost , about 4cm deep, in quite deep seed trays. Label, put somewhere reasonably shaded and make sure the tray doesn’t dry out. Be patient!

So, my question is, does anyone have a recommendation of somewhere to put the seed that's not a *plastic* bag? (Prefer not to use plastic.)

Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I'm the original poster of this topic and saw there has been some activity. I enjoy reading about everyone's ideas! It's been three years since I created this thread and our ideas have evolved a bit over that time. The original idea still resonates with us (my husband and I), but the things that are posted here by others are too ambitious for people like us. That doesn't take away that I still admire it, though.

We actually moved to France end of 2019 to rent somewhere and realised it really wasn't the country for us. We just don't fit in with the more conservative traditions and principles. Our ideas about giving birth, education, attitudes around raising children, etc. are very different. For us these things are quite big topics, as we plan on having more children and we also plan on sending our one-year-old son to school in the future, because we don't think homeschooling is a good idea as foreigners who aren't native speakers of the local language. When you're already a newcomer in a country, you feel vulnerable by default. If you then also have to deal with a mindset that goes against the current, it really won't help you feel at home in a country. So that's what made us leave France.

The corona crisis has been tough, but it also led to some new insights. We think Sweden is best for us (ironically maybe not so much from a corona perspective!). We already travelled quite a bit and we've seen a lot there before we had our son. Sweden really has a special place in our heart. We will fit in much better there. It's still going to be a journey with challenges, but we're committed. Moving abroad is never easy.

As for the eco village aspect, we're currently looking at properties that include variable plots of land. Some have a lot more land than others, but they all have different pros and cons we need to balance, though having more land would be such a nice bonus. If we can get a certain amount, we could have another person/couple/family on the land, maybe two at most. We would be open to a potential sale of part of our land if this can be arranged in such a way that the other party can still reside there. But we need to figure out exactly how this works in Sweden. From what I currently know this would need to be a smaller outbuilding like a homemade cabin (not officially seen as a house). This is the most we will ever do, and completely casual. No formal meetings schedules or management. Just all following our own plan. We personally don't have the mental capacity or energy to take on anything greater. And honestly? That's all we would need for the social side. It would be great to share this adventure with some other people, but that doesn't need to be 50 other people. Raising young child(ren) takes a lot of energy, especially with a family business that we need to work on as well. And all this outside of our homecountries. So, this is where we're currently at!