Tag: allotment

Some Thoughts On Instagram Live

On By TontowilliamsIn Video2 Comments

I did my first Instagram Live post yesterday. It was of course from the allotment.

Two of my followers saw that I was lived and watched part of the broadcast.

I’ve got a couple of observations. First it takes a while for your followers to get and respond to the notification that you’re Live, so probably best to start the broadcast and then at least wait until someone shows up. Otherwise you are talking to yourself.

Secondly there is no record of your broadcast, when you finish it, the video’s gone. Which means no one can “catch up” if they arrive late, unlike Periscope.

I’ll probably use it again, but they’ll be of the moment broadcasts, rather than anything I want to keep.

Allotment After The (Snow) Storm

On By TontowilliamsIn Fork To Fork, Garden / Allotment, Self-sufficient

2017-01-14-08-37-35

Although our snowmageddon turned out to be a slightly cold and damp squib, we did have enough to make me go down to the allotment to check things out. Snow will weigh down netting and other structures and if there’s enough cause them to collapse or tear. This then means that your crops underneath get flattened.

I’ve got some brassicas still under netting (and enviromesh), so I wanted to make sure all was well.

The snow (which had melted and turned to ice), had push down both cages a little. Not enough to cause them to collapse but enough to pull out some of the anchoring pins that secure it to the ground. I pushed off the remaining chunks of ice, tightened up the netting and re-secured the pegs. Job done.

The forecast at least in the short term is for fine, cold and dry weather. So now more snow, at least for now.

Solar Allotment Shed

On By TontowilliamsIn Gadgets, Garden / Allotment4 Comments
Not A Solar Bird House
Not A Solar Bird House

 

I had a kit for a solar powered shed light. The receipt was still in the box, and it was over 4 years old, so I wasn’t sure that it would work, but I thought it would be worth a try.

It was a fairly simple build, just required a couple of screws and no wiring; so I installed it on my allotment shed. The back of the shed faces south, and is also where my bird house is, so I installed the panel on top of the bird house, as it has a good angle to catch the sun, and I placed the light inside.

I wasn’t surprised when I connected it up, that it didn’t work. I figured that the two rechargeable AA batteries that come with the kit would probably be completely discharged, and I wasn’t convinced that they would take a charge, but I left it switched off, and in theory charging for the next week. Then I tried it…

I’m really chuffed. I was prepared to get some replacement batteries if I’d needed to, but it doesn’t look like I will.

I’m rarely down on the plot after dark, but it is good that I can have a little artificial light in the shed on the more gloomy days.

Allotment Update (17th September 2016)

On By TontowilliamsIn Garden / Allotment

Things are slowing down a little on the allotment now, courgettes that were producing one fruit a day, are now producing about one a week. Other summer crops are coming to the end of their season. It’s now however the end of work on the allotment – I’m already thinking about next year – the planting of over-wintering crops like onions and garlic is just starting as well as broad beans. I’m a little later than I was last year with my broad beans, and they haven’t gone in yet, but the onions and garlic went in last weekend. Here’s a quick video: