Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category
Solartastic!
Today was a very exciting day as we at last got our solar PV (photovoltaic) panels installed. We’ve been waiting all summer for them to be put up, but had to wait for our roof to be replaced first. Given the summer we’ve been having, and the high demand for our builder, this took a lot longer than we thought. So just as autumn begins and the sun starts to fade we got our panels installed! Never mind, at least they’ll be ready to go for what I’m sure will be a fantastic spring and summer next year. Read the rest of this entry »
Bracket fungi
It seems that foraging is the in-thing to do at the moment. With people having less money to spend and wanting all things natural, foraging for food seems an obvious way to get a free wholesome dinner. We’ve been foragers for some time, and used to go on many a walk armed with Richard Mabey’s Food for Free pocket book, looking for something to take home for our supper. We seem to do less foraging now, even though we’re in the heart of the countryside. It’s probably because we now have a bigger garden, so there’s less need or desire to forage for food. However, at this time of the year when not much is available in the veg garden, we like to see what we can forage from our own fields and hedgerows. Read the rest of this entry »
Homemade hurdles
The garden is looking a bit of a sorry state at the moment. Most of the vegetable beds are empty now, just a few leeks, parsnips and kale still standing. The spring bulbs are beginning to emerge, even in areas where the chickens have been scratching about. Because of this, and as I’ll be starting sowing again soon, we’ve now confined the chickens back to their run. Needless to say there’ s a lot of whingeing coming from the top of the garden. To make matters worse for them they are having their twice-yearly dose of worming treatment this week, so are not allowed any extra treats over the next 7 days. Read the rest of this entry »
Better get chopping!
The first project of 2011 was completed this weekend – a wood store. We’re starting to build up a good pile of logs for burning on our woodburners, but haven’t really had anywhere good to store it while it is seasoning. We’ve cobbled together make-do stores, but it’s good to now be able to stack it properly where the worst of the rain can be kept from it. As you can see it’s not particularly pretty, having been put together using various handouts, with the main poles and braces the only thing we had to buy. My dad had a load of old corrugated roofing sheets he no longer needed, and our local farmer has a good supply of pallets, which can be used for no end of structures around the garden – compost heaps, chicken shelters, and pig houses at the last count!
I might look at growing something up the side to try and hide it a bit, but the main thing now is to try to find some more wood to fill it!
Frosty cabbage
It looks like winter has well and truly arrived. We measured -10°C in the polytunnel on Saturday night/Sunday morning and similarly temperatures last night. As I write the mercury is reading around -5°C. However, the sun is shining and everything is sparkling so while it may be cold at least it’s not snowing (yet!). Read the rest of this entry »
Something's not quite right!
The hedgerows are full of life at the moment, and this autumn is meant to be one of the best in many years for collecting fruit such as blackberries. We have quite a lot of hedges of our own, and we decided when we bought the place we would let the hedges revert back to their natural state. The local way seems to be to cut the hedges as early and as savagely as you can on an annual basis, and our hedges had been given this treatment every year. This is understandable, to some extent, when you’re using the fields for crops and pasture, and the hedges would start to encroach on the land, but it’s a shame you very rarely see a wild hedgerow around these parts. Landowners are only meant to cut their hedges between September and March, so that birds can nest without being disturbed, and the plants are dormant, although with spring starting earlier this seems a bit late in the year to me. Read the rest of this entry »
Sprouts in September
It seems winter is approaching rapidly, and some tasks highlight the fact even more so. Chopping wood is something neither us like doing, but having received a load of wood from our friendly farmer we needed to get it split and stacked so that it could begin the long process of drying out for future use. We have plans to build a proper wood store, but at the moment we are making do with old pallets and tarpaulin to keep the rain off. It’s not ideal, but at this stage in the seasoning process, as long as the worst of the rain is kept off the logs, they should be fine. Now that we’ve got two wood-burning stoves, and plans for a third, we need an awful lot of wood to keep them going. We still have to buy most of our supplies in, but we keep our eyes peeled for possible free supplies so that we can build up our wood store for future years.
Another sign that winter is around the corner was our first crop of sprouts. I hadn’t expected to get any this early, despite the variety being an “early” type. I’m not sure how long these will continue producing for, and for some reason I didn’t plant any later varieties, so we may not have any fresh ones for Christmas Day. I’ll try freezing a few so that we have an emergency supply, although I can’t imagine frozen sprouts taste nearly as nice as fresh. Read the rest of this entry »
Every drop helps
Water is something we have in abundance in this part of Wales. While parts of the UK have had a very dry spring and summer, we’ve continued to have more than our fair share of rain. This has meant that there has been little need for extra watering in the garden, although we did get a few weeks in June when it rained very little and the watering can was out most days. Like many people these days, we are on a water meter, and while the price of water is not really that expensive, you tend to be more conscious of how much you are using (some would say a little obsessive). Read the rest of this entry »