Author Archives: james

First seed-sowing of the year!

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

I planned to get all my sweet and chile peppers down today in the hope of giving them a good start early in the year so I collected them all together: From the top left I have: Cayenne chiles, home-saved … Continue reading →

Posted in Smallholding, Veg plot | Tagged , | Leave a comment

More laser-cut honey boxes

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

First, one for six standard 1lb round jars for Wivey Kitchen, from Wivey Grows. And then another box for my own honey, this time with my contact details on the back.

Posted in Bee-keeping, Laser, Projects, Smallholding | Tagged | Leave a comment

Lord of the flies

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

In the Summer of 2025, the flies were just horrifying. Being so hot and dry outdoors they seemed to congregate anywhere there was some shade. Thousands upon thousands of them. It wasn’t just me, either. Everyone else I spoke to … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Workshop | Tagged | Leave a comment

Yay! Cellulitis again!

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

Fourth time, I think. It doesn’t look anywhere near as angry in this photo as it did in real life. In case it’s unclear, that’s the back of my left calf, foot out of shot on the right, knee out … Continue reading →

Posted in Health | Tagged | Leave a comment

We’ll call that full, then

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

Don’t think I’m going to be getting much more in this compost heap.

Posted in Smallholding, Veg plot | Tagged | Leave a comment

Miscellaneous bait hives

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

All of these use quite old Abelo poly brood boxes that weren’t made to the correct dimensions — they have both a top and a bottom bee space. The stands have sacrificial/adjustable legs. adjustable because nowhere around where I live … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee-keeping, Smallholding | Tagged | Leave a comment

More laser-cut beekeeping stuff

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

Honestly, I probably made these because I could rather than because laser-cutting was the best way to do them. First, a very fat dummy — to take up several frames worth of space in a queen-rearing box. And the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee-keeping, Smallholding | Tagged | Leave a comment

What a load of rubbish!

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

Or not. We have recycling collections every week — cans/plastics, glass and paper/card. We’re supposed to do food waste as well, but that all gets composted. And in fact a fair bit of the paper and card also ends up … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged | Leave a comment

This is a swarm I’ll pass on…

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

In a hole that had rotted out of a tree after a branch fell off/was removed. The landowner wanted them removed before the tree was cut down a few days later. I decided that I didn’t fancy trying to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee-keeping, Smallholding | Tagged | Leave a comment

Off the scale!

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

Ok, not quite. I wish I could think of a practical way to extract this heat though, say until the heap cooled to about 50°C.

Posted in Smallholding, Veg plot | Tagged | Leave a comment