Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
How To Make A Bumblebee Nest Box
The Week In Wildlife – In pictures [The Guardian]
France gives go ahead to Hinkley Point, French minister says [The Guardian]
From Africa to Somerset – sand martins lead the way [The Guardian]
It’s that time of the year, when spring is arriving and the ground is warming up and it’s time to sow some seeds directly on the allotment. I thought it might be useful to share the method that I use. It works for me, on my allotment, but there are other hints and tips, and some seeds need to be sown in other ways, but generally speaking for pretty much everything that I sow from seed directly into the ground this is the method that I use. Last weekend I sowed parsnip, turnip and radish. Let me walk you through the sowing of the parsnips.
Firstly, read the seed packet.
I know I said that I use the same method, and I do, but you need to check there is nothing special about the seed that you’re sowing. Some seeds come “coated”, which can irritate your skin, and it’s advisable to wear gloves.
More simply you want to make sure that you’re sowing your seeds at the right time, and that you space them correctly and know whether you’re going to need to thin them or any other ongoing care that you’ll need to provide once they’ve germinated.
Next I mark out where I’m going to sow.
Normally this is a straight row. I use a line, pegged at either end to keep it taught, and to stop it moving around.
This helps me to keep the row straight during the next step, and also gives me a guide as to where the seed is going. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s only a guide!
I then run the narrow end of my adze alongside the line to create a drill.
I’ve had this tool for a while, and it was given to me by someone who couldn’t find a use for it. It’s perfect for this job, and depending on how deep or wide I need the drill to be, I’ll use one end or the other. For the parsnips I only need a narrow, shallow drill so I used the smaller, narrower end.
Once I’ve made my drill, I water it.
I do this before the seeds go in. This means that the seeds are going onto slightly damp soil, which stops them from blowing out of the drill if it’s windy, and also aids germination.
I’ll still water them again when the seeds are sown, this is a pre-sowing water.
Next I’ll sow the seeds, following the seeds, following the packet instructions, but also using my own experience and knowledge.
As these are parsnips I tend to sow more densely than recommended, because germination is notoriously poor with most varieties of parsnips. If they go the other way, and they all come up, then I’ll have more thinning out to do later, but that is preferable to having more germination or patchy rows taking up a lot of space for very few plants.
Finally I’ll mark the row at each end, with the seed type and the date. I also keep a record of what I’ve sown when in my notebook, just so I can keep an eye on when things should start to appear.
Then I’ll remove the line, backfill the drill by scraping the soil back over with a rake, and water covered-over drill well. I’ll do this even if rain is forecast, as often forecasts are wrong.
That’s it. Simple. On to the next row, and next seed type.
Do you have any tried and tested methods that work for you? If so leave me a comment below, I’d like to hear what they are and maybe try them myself.
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Scrapping Hinkley for renewable alternatives will save ‘tens of billions’ [The Guardian]
10 ways ‘negative emissions’ could slow climate change [Carbon Brief]
The Week In Wildlife – In Pictures [The Guardian]
Reducing food waste would mitigate climate change, study shows [The Guardian]
Learning to Let the Wild Be Wild in Yellowstone [National Geographic]
Why Small Birds Opt For Urban Living [National Geographic]
Protesters are Rebuilding Thoreau’s Cabin to Block a Gas Pipeline [Atlas Obscura]
There’s an old saying that goes something like:
“If the Oak before the ash, then we’ll only have a splash, if the ash before the Oak then we’ll surely have a soak”
This refers to the the amount of rainfall we’re going to get in the following summer, based on which species comes into leaf first in the spring.
Whilst there isn’t any scientific evidence to support this statement, I did notice this morning that the Oak trees around me are definitely ahead, and buds have already burst, whereas on the Ash trees there’s not sign of any buds bursting yet.
I won’t however be packing up my raincoat for the summer just yet. This week has been one of typical April showers, what I’d would expect for the time of the year. Flipping from bright sunshine one moment, to torrential rain the next (we even had a hail shower on Tuesday).
If only the weather was as easy to predict as a centuries old rhyme.
A couple of videos from last week on the Allotment.
This is our “Sparrow” nesting box. It’s on the side of our garage, and was built for House Sparrows to nest in. The theory being, that as House Sparrows are communal nesters, the box with it’s three separate chambers (there are dividing walls between eat entrance hole), would be attractive to them. It has never housed a single Sparrow, nor have I ever seen a Sparrow showing the remotest interest in the box.
That’s not to say that we don’t get a good showing of House Sparrows in the garden. They are here most days, either feeding from one of the feeders or tables in the garden or bathing in our pond. They just prefer the hedge between us and our neighbour to nest in, or behind the fascia boards on the front of our house, or the tall hedge on the other side of our road. In fact probably anywhere that isn’t the “Sparrow” box.
That’s not to say that the box doesn’t get used, in fact I think it’s been used every year apart from the first year we put it up (about six or seven years ago), and last year, when Blue Tits found a gap under the eaves of the garage and nested in there. Only one entrance hole is used though, there’s no communal nesting going on. This year it appears it’s going to be the turn of the Great Tits again. I’ve been watching them scope out the options (left, right or middle), and they seem to have plumped for the left. They’ve been carrying nesting material in all afternoon, undeterred by the rain and hail showers!
In previous years it’s been either Blue Tits or Great Tits, no other species have shown an interest, and certainly never a House Sparrow.
Great to see the box being used, but just don’t tell the Sparrows, they might want a look in after all!
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
British health systems ‘unprepared for devastating effects of climate change’ [The Guardian]
EDF board member calls for Hinkley Point C project to be postponed [The Guardian]
The Week In Wildlife – In Pictures [The Guardian]
We were a bit earlier on our morning dog walk this morning, and I did wonder whether we might see the deer somewhere around the Fort, what I didn’t expect was to be nearly knocked over by one.
We were on our return leg of our regular circular walk when I heard a splash from the Fort’s moat, and then something crashing through the bushes. A female Roe Deer then jumped up onto the path, nearly knocking us over. I think she probably had just as big a fright as we did, and she took off along the path in the direction we were heading.
On the other side of the moat was a male Roe Deer; probably a two year old, judging by the antlers, who was perfectly camouflaged against the woody background.
We moved on again, and were able to follow the females hoof prints, so fresh that they stood out on the path against everything else. Where they dropped back off the path, I could see that she had doubled-back below us, presumably to join up with her male companion.
Each year for the past few years I’ve been doing a year end review; books I’ve read, films/tv programmes I’ve watched and other things related to work and the allotment. You can read the end of 2015 here, if you’re interested.
The problem I have is trying to remember stuff (that might be an age thing). I guess that the things that were really good, tend to stick in my mind, as they should, but some of the things that were okay but not outstanding, tend to get forgotten.
So I thought I’d try doing a quick review of each quarter of the year, during 2016; rather than trying to remember everything in December. We’ll see how it goes, and hopefully I’ll remember to do ones at the end of June and September!
Work
Last year I went from being an employee to being self-employed. It was a significant moment for me, and started out well. Although the first three months of this year have been quieter than the tail end of last year, there’s still be a steady flow of work and this has also allowed me to think about goal setting for the year, and also work on some other projects. I don’t want to talk about those other projects at the moment, except to say that they focus more on the allotment / growing / fork-to-fork side of things, and although they are unlikely to make me rich (not that I ever particularly want to be rich), I hope that they might eventually generate some income, and perhaps give me a better quality more sustainable lifestyle. We’ll see.
I’ve also started much more consciously sharing my work side, posts on this blog like the Quick Links that are appearing on Tuesdays, and some new pages are a step in that direction. If anyone has any feedback on those things or any questions, then do please leave a comment below.
Allotment
As you might expect the tale end of winter is a quiet time on the allotment, and although we’ve been continuing to harvest brassicas, leeks and a few other small things, not much has really been happening, apart from the bits that link to work (see above), and I hope I’ll be able to share more on that in due course.
Things are starting to pick up now though, as the weather gets warmer and heats up the soil, the risk of frost decreases and the days get longer. Soon things will be in full swing. I’m looking forward to what I hope will be a good, productive year.
Books
So far I seem to have managed to read 14 books in the past three months, which I am quite surprised about. You can see what I’ve been reading here. Of them, there are a couple that stand out for me. Colter by Rick Bass is one and The Road To Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson is the other. The latter speaks to me because it touches on some of the things that I feel are going wrong with this country, and without wishing to get too political here and now, it was refreshing to read that I am not alone with my thoughts and perceptions. The former of the two was by a new author to me, and I’ll say now if you have a problem with hunting for food, you might want to give this one a miss, as Colter is a German Short-haired Pointer that is the author’s hunting dog, and a lot of the book is devoted to hunts. With that caveat I’d recommend both.
Films & TV
A few things here. Firstly the second season of Bosch, has just aired on Amazon Prime. I mentioned the first season in my review of 2015, and I’m pleased it was commissioned for a second season, and hopefully there will be a third. Although it was only released at the beginning of the month, I have already managed to watch all ten episodes and loved it! I’d thoroughly recommend to anyone who likes crime drama
I’ve also watched the most recent Bond film – Spectre when it went to DVD, although I enjoyed it, I don’t really want to rave about it as it was okay, but not that outstanding. If I was writing this in December I probably wouldn’t even mention it.
A final mention though for A Walk in the Woods, adapted from Bill Bryson’s novel of the same name. Again another DVD watch, but one that I really enjoyed. My only criticism is that it came to a somewhat abrupt end, and was over before I felt it really got going. Robert Redford and Nick Nolte were excellent.
Life In General
Is pretty good I think; we managed to have our first holiday in about three years in March, another benefit of being my own boss now and not having to worry about the threat of being made redundant. I’m enjoying working from home, and setting my own goals and timetables. I have lots planned for this year, and things I want to get achieved. So far so good though, looks like I’m on course.
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Apple says you can “feel really good” about buying its products. Don’t believe them. [Grist Blog]
Ash dieback and beetle attack likely to ‘wipe out’ all ash trees in UK and Europe [The Guardian]
Small copper butterfly in ‘inexorable decline’, according to survey [The Guardian]
The Week in Wildlife – In Pictures [The Guardian]
Electronic Scrapbook 