Author Archives: james

What to do with the old strawberry bed soil?

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

Having taken the sides off the old strawberry bed, the problem remained of what to do with the soil it contained — probably about half a tonne. The bed was next to a concrete pad with a dwarf wall of … Continue reading →

Posted in Smallholding, Veg plot | Leave a comment

Queen hornet update

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

She’s still there 😀 Not looking like flying much today, possibly because it’s actually been quite chilly and breezy. She just seems to be curled up under the ridge waiting for a warm day. There’s an enormous spider eying her … Continue reading →

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

No dig diary, 22nd May 2024

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

Yay! More weeding today! This time the polytunnel and Frankenstein’s greenhouse thanks to the day being distinctly cooler. Given that these are covered structures and that I’ve weeded them twice already this year I don’t entirely understand where the weeds … Continue reading →

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

Memory Lane, 14th June 2023: A cheap second polytunnel

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

I’ve been thinking ahead to a time when we might need to put the chickens into covered housing for the Winter because of bird ‘flu. It struck me that a polytunnel would probably do the job, but we’d need a … Continue reading →

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

No dig diary, 21st May 2024

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

I completed the last bit of outdoor weeding today, at long last. And in fact then completed the spreading of compost on the main veggie plot in the bed I had just weeded. I really should have got that done … Continue reading →

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

Chicken hatching update

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

I weighed the trays of eggs in the incubators this morning and wasn’t happy with the results. They’d both lost twice as much weight as they should have. Investigation of the pump for the first incubator showed that the water … Continue reading →

Posted in Chickens, Smallholding | Tagged | Leave a comment

Spring Harvest

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

Today I dropped over to take supers off some of my hives that have been next to a field of oilseed rape. I’m a bit late with this and it may already have crystallised, but we’ll see. It’s a quite … Continue reading →

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

Memory Lane, 14th June 2023: First new potatoes of the season

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

Harvested today, a variety I’ve not tried before but thought I might as well give a go because I’m struggling to get hold of any International Kidney. These are Red Duke of York. They seem to be perfectly acceptable to … Continue reading →

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

Well, that’s hornet!

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

I went to hunt for some kit in my bee shed today and as I turned around to close the door afterwards almost had my head taken off by a queen hornet leaving. I hung around for a while and … Continue reading →

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

More bait hive action

Posted on May 23, 2024 by james

My concerns about one of my colonies potentially swarming were not helped today by far more action around my bait hive. I tried to follow the flight paths of the scouts though and they seem to be heading off the … Continue reading →

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