Culvert operations in Ambridge - discuss The Archers here. It's not his baby by the way.

[PseudoBadger]

Is Ed's wedding very soon?

Silage is made in May. If you are lucky with the weather you can get a second cut so it makes sense to get the first cut as early as possible.
Here's an exciting webpage about silage-making

Are you thinking of the towers used for drying wheat etc?

is anyone else desperately hoping that it isn't HWMNBN who has been staying there?

I'm desperately hoping that Aunty Cardboard will be so distressed that she dissolves into a soggy papier-mache mush and SOTMC in search of Freda.

I wouldn't want poor Christine dedded. But she deserves to spend a little time with her DS. Why hasn't he re-appeared to swoop her off to Berlin? (Probably because the SWs have forgotten his existence.) I don't think she can have seen him more than once in the past 20 years.

I thought Pseudo's favourite handyman was back on his feet with a home and job elsewhere? D'you think they'd bring him back?

D'you think they'd bring him back?

Dunno but something has brought the spoilers thread back to life recently.

Christine is pointless. I wish that they would put her out of her misery.

Oh no! It had dropped off my TIO.

Byeeee!

Me and my big mouth!

What happened about the tele. Have I missed an episode?

And Christine is not pointless! She's had quite enough excitement in her life and is entitled to a quiet and dignified old age.

I imagine moving her to the Stables was supposed to do the same job as Jill going back to Brookfield - put her at the centre of the action. 'Cept there isn't much chez Shula.

This is the thing - SOC has plenty of ambitious ideas, but clearly lacks either the time or the writing/planning talent to bring them to fruition. The lowly Grundys at smart GG should have provided some fascinating incidents and issues - but we've only had comedy trousers and hide the ferret. The Snells at the Dower House should have prompted some serious conversations about their future - not blinkin' birdwatching competitions. And why, seriously, would anyone come sniffing for land in an area that has just this minute suffered a devastating flood. And if they must - why would land prices have increased dramatically in the flood hit area?

He was just all "Haw haw we were obvs NEVER going to let them leave. It would be like the ravens leaving the Tower!"

That's SO annoying. I would have wanted to follow up with a question about why they despise the listeners so much that they made no attempt to make it remotely feasible or true to the characters. If we'd just had a few teenage strops about having to change schools and leave all their friends, for instance, it would have been massively more credible than all that bollox about all the kids being absolutely fine with it.

florentina, Kenton particularly had a massive strop about David interfering and insisted that they cancel the order for the TV. But then he said of course they were going to have the big footie night without saying how he was going to achieve it.

Sorry, not particularly, predictably.

For thread titles, we need to stick with the famous culvert, don't we? Something like "Is Knob's career up the culvert?"

Olivia I didn't actually mean she's desperate for another baby, I meant that she's desperate to have a home and a partner (like a grown up). As opposed to living at mum and dads' with the support of mum and dad to help with Henry etc. IYSWIM

Plarchers

The image for this thread.

Thanks Icimoi, Good title, all I could come,with was "has Stefan done a bunk with the bunting"

So the bunting thief also raided Christine's?

Freddie?

Oh Stefan's been stuffed in a culvert, oh Stefan's been stuffed in a drain, oh Stefan's been stuffed in a culvert, when will we see Stefan again?

Pseudo, hee hee hee.

Old skool Gold Disc.

I can see that rocking the dance floor at the next Young Farmers' do.

There has to be some significance in the fact that it's largely worthless things that have been nicked. That probably rules out a Horrobin. I fear the only possibility is HWMNBN. Unless it's Tiger, living rough and picking up whatever he can (hopeful).

Please can someone tell me what is supposed to be the real reason for Tiger's escape from the zoo? I miss him. And Scruff.

Will the covert culvert cover up come to close in The Archers, or will Rob the Knob evade the Plod whilst Ambridge is deluged in a flood brotherly love?

Lynda should adopt not-scruff, shouldn't she? Then realScruff will be bound to turn up.

Poor Lynda. Poor Scruff too. That was a very downbeat way to end the week.

mink silage and hay are made throughout the summer, silage from April onwards and hay usually later, June/July. Hay needs to 'make' after it is mown, before it is baled to get rid of all the moisture so is usually made in hot dry weather. It can take up to a week to 'make'. Hay that is too damp when baled can go on fire through getting hot. Silage just needs to wilt rather than dry as it is ensiled in plastic, so can be made earlier. It also doesn't require such good weather, although the forage harvester will struggle if rain makes the crop too wet. 'First cut' is the best quality and you can take as many cuts as grass growth will allow, through to September ish, three or four cuts wouldn't be unusual. Silage used to be stored in towers in the 70s but silage clamps became more popular in the 80s. A silage clamp is simply a big area where the silage is tipped, and rolled (driven over repeatedly with a heavy tractor) before being sealed with plastic sheets to keep out the air. Heavy weights, sometimes tyres or gravel bags are placed on top to help the silage stay compact. It then ferments and is used as winter feed. Silage is commonly used for dairy cows as it is made with younger grass which is higher in protein and energy. Hay tends to be tougher and more stemmy.