Author Archives: james

Memory Lane, 23rd July 2022: Heeeere’s Tommy!

Posted on February 28, 2024 by james

Tommy tomato 😀 Tomatoes in the polytunnel, looking heathly. About forty plants in all. Sounds a lot, but we get through an awful lot of tomatoes, in salads, soup, pizza sauce, pasta sauces and probably other things too. All close … Continue reading →

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

Getting my bandsaw to cut straight

Posted on February 28, 2024 by james

Well, not my bandsaw. My father-in-law’s. But I probably use it the most. He bought it years ago and has used it for all sorts of stuff that probably wasn’t ideal when we didn’t have a chop saw/mitre saw. Then … Continue reading →

Posted in Workshop | Tagged | Leave a comment

At last a use for my scrap ply

Posted on February 28, 2024 by james

After making a few clearer boards and suchlike for my beehives this winter I’ve ended up with quite a lot of small pieces of ply that I’ve kept because they’re actually quite decent quality and I’d prefer not to put … Continue reading →

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

Memory Lane, 22nd July 2022: Give peas a chance

Posted on February 27, 2024 by james

Last of the fresh peas for this season 🙁 But I have saved pods from a couple of varieties to sow again next year. The mangetout dry quite quickly The podding peas, not so much.

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

I think something died in the workshop

Posted on February 27, 2024 by james

There’s certainly a strange smell in there. I think it could be a mouse. Or possibly a squirrel. What definitely has died are two of the LED striplights that I bought a couple of years ago. They’re quite common on … Continue reading →

Posted in Workshop | Tagged | Leave a comment

It’s the end of the anemometer as we know it…

Posted on February 27, 2024 by james

We’ve had really quite cold north-easterly winds for the last few days, and fairly strong with it as there’s absolutely nothing at all to provide shelter from that direction. I noticed the anemometer for my weather station was looking a … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Memory Lane, 21st July 2022: A tale of two garlics

Posted on February 26, 2024 by james

Towards the end of 2021 I planted garlic cloves out in the main vegetable plot as well as in the polytunnel beds so I could compare how they did. Not very well was the answer in the case of the … Continue reading →

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

A bit agricultural?

Posted on February 26, 2024 by james

Thanks to the new lathe that is occupying space in the workshop I have been trying to shift things around a bit to make some more space to work, including moving some to the centre of the room to allow … Continue reading →

Posted in Workshop | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Memory Lane, 20 July 2022: Spuds’n’onions

Posted on February 25, 2024 by james

Early harvests from this season: New potatoes ready to go. Red onions, spread out to dry in the Sun. I know that looks like a lot of onions, but they won’t last us the year. I shall plant more next … Continue reading →

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

Damn! It’s heavy!

Posted on February 25, 2024 by james

Yesterday… Today… Still to do is the installation of the motor and bolting everything down. After that I think we’re good. I might have to have a glance through the 1969 copy of “Know Your Lathe” that came with it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Workshop | Tagged , | Leave a comment