New Year's Eve

   So the year turns again. It is still raining. I went over to see the bees and check they were okay. They were. A gale of wind is blowing from the South West. It is just getting round the hedge so the Hives are in a drafty spot for the moment. At least the flood waters have subsided. There was no damage to the hives during the floods. One of the door blocks had been displaced so I put it back in place and wedged it there with a couple of pieces of stick. When looking in the front door I can see a few dead bees and in one hive there are lots of capping on the floor. That means they are tucking into their stores. Time for candy I think.

   I got out my hip flask which is full of last years Sloe Gin and splashed a little on each hive and wished the Bees health for the coming year. If you can wassail apples trees I am sure you can "wassail" bee hives I had a wander round the meadow which is sodden after the recent flooding. The grass cover has held the soil together. Some of the plough fields I can see from the meadow have not fared so well. The only sign of life, besides the surging Mease, was a Sparrow Hark that flew down the length of the hedge at knee height then dart through the hedge and was gone.

The hives are in the far left of picture. The River Mease is still roaming across the fields

   It is a desolate time of year in the countryside especially with a gale blowing and biting rain showers in the wind. Finding all secure I trundled back across the fields and went over to the lottie. More desolation. I put up a couple of bird feeders although I did see more than a few crows being tossed across the sky. The soil was too wet to dig so I had a close look at the hedges and the trees in the hedge. I have selected the ones that are coming out. They are shading out areas of my plot. The bees at the lottie are not moving but the signs are that they are fine. I fixed my gate. The wind had given it a beating and a couple of battens needed refixing. I wassailed the lottie and the bees. It is a good deal more sheltered at the lottie but it was still dark considering it was two o'clock in the afternoon.

   I did a little job for one of the plot holders before I packed up and went home for a spot of lunch.

So as traditional at this time of year, I wish you all a Happy New Year for 2013.

Getting ready

    Getting ready to allotment seems to take longer. Degsy sits there waiting for a key turn to get going. Sometimes Degsy needs a hand. Luckily Degsy can be started with a cranking handle. It is bloody hard to turn over a 2.5 litre engine against the compression but I managed it without putting my back out or dislocating my arms.

      Then there is the personal preparation. If I don't put my gloves on my skin on one of more of the joint on my finger crack and that is painful and take ages to heal. And now I have to put a bit a Vaseline on my lips to stop them cracking. Then when I get hot and sweating from working if don't wrap up when I stop I can almost guarantee I will get a chill that will start off a silly cough I won't be able to shift until well into the New Year.

    I have given up wear overalls. Now the main gear is mainly my rigger boots, work pants and a brushed cotton shirt. So long as I have remembered to put tea bags and milk in the back of Degsy then all will be well.  

Grubs & Robins

      The weather, time and enthusiasm collided today. The weather was the variable in the this list. Freezing conditions last week were not conducive to digging. Then Thursday this week it threw it down for most of the day. Saturday was taken up with picking up Miss L. The weather remained fine on Saturday which boded well for Sunday. Sunday dawned clear so after a breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and tea it was off to the lottie. There was no one at the lottie. All the plots a bit tired. Mine looked not too bad now the ground had been strimmed and the vines pruned. The milky winter sun did a lot to make the general view looks better.

      The main job was get the spuds dug up. The soil was the consistency of cream cheese. The fork was a waste of time for digging the spuds. I got the spade out instead. Then arranged the wheelbarrow for collecting the weeds and there plenty of weeds to go at. The main culprits are Dock and Grass but as I was to find out there was some major roots from the nearby Willows. I just got going in the plough head land, as grandly call it. I just worked across the plot throwing the spuds into the tray and the weeds into the barrow. On the third row the spuds were different. I got another tray so as to keep the varieties separate. Over and back, over and back with spuds in one place and weeds in another. I put the kettle on when I was half way across the plot then went back to harvesting or was it weeding?  By the time I finished the row the kettle was boiling. I made a brew and remembered to get wrapped up against the cold. I sat on the compo bin and supped my brew. The Robin's where happy to see the back of me for a while so they could forage over the new turned earth. I had been feeding them with Cockchaffer grubs as I found them in the soil but they wanted more. Cockchaffer grubs are massive about 40/50mm [2 inches] long so half a dozen of those should fill the Robin's up.

     Brew over and back to the spade and rows of spuds. I managed another two rows before I ran out of time. One of the other lottie holders turned up and came over for a chat. Having chatted about the year just gone we wished each other a Merry Christmas and set off back to our plots. I tidied the tools away and packed up Degsy. I trundled back home in the weakening Sun. I took the spuds straight round the back of the house and gave them a wash before parking them in the shed.

Catch up

I have been allotmenting but not blogging. There are only so many hours in a week and I have discovered that you have to sleep for some of those hours. One of my allotment buddies has traded a strimming my plot for a couple of a trailer loads of manure. A decent trade in my eyes. The plot looks tuns better if still weedy.

It has been chucking it down this last few weeks so all I have been doing is tidying up. Today I tackled the Grape vines. It took me a good hour to tackle the remaining four vines that had not had the attention of Madame Secateurs. I ended up with more vine on the floor had on the wires but that is way it is supposed to be. I had an idea I would strim the ditch alongside the plot but it is holding a foot of water so no thanks.

The tiding up that I had chucked into the big compo bin has been turned in lovely compost by the worms. The warm (ish) and (very) wet weather has suited the compo bin worms and they have doing a great job. I dropped some more leaves and kitchen waste in the bin today and gave it a stir about just give the worms a chance.

A number of the post down the centre of the plot have given up the ghost and snapped off at the base. I will have to renew these soon. I think I will put in meta post legs instead of just hammering the wooden posts into the soil. Seven posts needed. I hope Santa has heard my plea.  

I looked around the other plots in between shovelling and pruning and I am still think my theory from last year is not disproved. I find those folks that have completed their winter digging, so that soil is bare, have had the soil pounded by the rain and it has clagged together. Soil on my plot is protected by the weeds so it might be honours even, although I know those weeds are growing, if slowly.

The bees are very quite as you might expect. They did not even come out when I very pruning the vines in front of the hive. There was a odd one near the entrance to the hive so they are still about, just not flying. 

Round two

I had this week off work and wouldn't you know it the weather has been....well Autumnal. Cold wet windy for days then unrelentingly grey then a sharp frost overnight then beautiful today. Still breezy and cold since it is coming from the north but bright sunshine in a blue sky.  H want spuds for dinner so I just had to dig them up. The big hedge that I have been inwardly complaining about did a very nice job of shielding me from the cold north wind and with the sun in the south a need a nice sun trap.

Digging up spuds is easy if boring. I decided to make it interesting by digging quite deeply and cleaning out all the weeds. I am well overdue harvesting the spuds so only the remains of the ridge so where the spuds might be. I used my fork as a rake and pulled back the tangle of ground cover weeds that are on Bed1, the spud bed.The ground was surprisingly clear under the weed mat. There were just a few Dock and Thistle making a living in the rows. The soil is beautiful. Keeping off the soil during the wet weather has paid off. It is not compacted. The fork, my usual spud harvester, was not doing a very good job because the spuds are small and dropped through the tines. I swapped the fork for the spade and made much quicker progress. I did not  even cut any in half. Mind you I did start the spade further out from the centre of the row than I would have with the fork. I whizzed along the first row but it was hard on my back. Having finished the row I levelled out the soil with the back of the fork and decided on some different work to rest my back muscles.

The grapes have grown well from the late start but did not produced any grape to speak of. I got the secateurs from Degsy and spent 15 minutes trimming back the vine adjacent to the piece of  bed I was working on and secured it back to the wires. There was more vine on the floor than on the wires by the time I had finished.  

The nettles have had a field day. There are growing all around my compost bins, path and in the corner of Bed1. I started off tentatively pulling at the stems. I went and got my heavy gloves from Degsy. Whist there I put the kettle on. Back tot he nettles with glasses and gloves on. I prodded, poked and teased the mass of roots from under the soil and path. Then I went round to the big compo bin and I prodded, poked and teased the mass of roots from under the bin then round the back of the compo bins and did the same again. That corner of the plot now look bare now the nettles are gone and the grape trimmed.

I got my brew from Degsy and sat on the big compo bin in the sunshine and watched the Kestrels soaring. It was not long before the Rooks were aloft to chase the Kestrel away. I resolved to feed the birds this winter even though they scatter the seeds and they grow as weeds.

I happened to be standing by the Asparagus bed and idly prodded a weed out of the bed, then another and another and before long I was ripping into the weeding. The Asparagus bed weeds very easily. Whilst in the area I cleaned off the Rhubarb bed of wilted leaves and dropped them in the compo bin. I missed harvesting the Comfrey bed so it looked very unkempt. I combed the wilted leave back into the centre of the bed and stamped it down. Five minutes of combing and stamping and that bed look tidy too. Comfrey is as tough as old boots so won't come to any harm from a bit of rough treatment. 

I went back to spud harvesting a slowly motored down another row. Spuds in the bucket, weeds in a ever growing pile in the middle of the plot. Having finished the row I went round the edge of the bed with my narrow spade and cut a gutter against the timber border. The back of the became a rake and finished off the bed a treat. In the hour or so since the first row of spuds was harvested the sun and wind had dried out the top of the soil. It showed as light grey against the black moist soil.

The slugs have run riot this year with the wet weather and little gardening taking place. Every time a turned over a likely piece of leaf or bag there I would find a clutch of slug eggs. Generally I scooped them up and put them on the top the compo bin which acts as a giant bird table. Other times I left them where they were since I had removed whatever was covering them. The birds and other creatures with hoover them up.

I fed the bees although I am pretty much finished with the bees for the winter. Fingers crossed they make it through the winter.

The approaches to the plot look really good now so all I have to do is spend a few hours on the plot each weekend for the winter and we should be in good shape for the spring....fingers crossed. Round two down. How many more to go?

The fight back begins....with tea

Last weekend I found a little free time to go to the lottie. I have to admit it is a mess. I decided the fight had to begin at some stage or to walk away. I decided to fight back. I started by opening the big compost bin to turfing into it the gone-over flowers and grasses from around the bin and the adjacent patio area. I also shovelled in the compost I ran shovelled out a few months ago. I have no where else to put ten barrow loads of compost. It least it will kick start the compo bin. The up shot was front of the lottie looks better and I have some room to work.

Over the summer I have been dropping off horse muck every fortnight. The result is a big pile of the stuff. It is nicely worked down by the worms and is ready to be dropped on the plot. I feel some major mulching coming on.

Yesterday [Saturday] morning I to meet some folks about a market pitch in Castle Donington. It was less daunting than had imagined. There was tea and bacon butties to keep out the cold. I was done by twelve noon and set off for trailer duties. I met Allotment buddy Steve at the lottie and immediately stopped for a brew. Steve favours a Kelly's kettle, I favour a Trangia. In this case the Kelly was already bubbling so it would be rude not to take tea. We had a sit at the top of my plot placing ourselves gingerly onto my garden seat. The weather has given the planking a beating over the years and it days must be numbered. It is just a case of when the comedy chair collapse happens. Steve had to go and I set about digging up some spuds. The soils was wet but not too bad. I got a nice crop of spuds and a cleared a patch of soil to boot. Just another 400 square yards to go and the plot is perfect.  

When dropped out the trailer I went over to see the bees. I topped up the feeders and observed the fronts of each hive for five minutes. Even though the nights are colder the sun still has some warmth especially with the clear skies we have had recently. The bees where coming and going with vigour. Some of the bees were bring back pollen. They need pollen to make the food to feed to the larvae so pollen = larvae food = eggs = queen, so all is well for the time being.

Its been a while since I last blogged. Tons of stuff has been gone on in my life and that does not include the weather. A super quick catch up in six bullet points:

• Nearly made redundant.
• Good allotment idea did not turn out so well.
• Started a little business
• Weather affect the bees
• Trouble and strife within the family diverted me from applying to my usual stuff
• Weather affected my allotment schedule

Have a look at the Diamond Awl website, click HERE, to see what the business thing is all about. It has been quite an interesting set of challenges. In the end I have a website and an on-line shop. If I were not producing pretty much everything to order the shop would make a bit more sense.

The good/bad allotment idea was to follow an idea that said do not weed through the winter. The weeds will preserve the soil structure and nutrients and when composted the weeds would give back again. Good idea but British weather put paid to that idea, too dry then to wet. Result a very weedy allotment.

The weather has affected to bees in that they have not been able to gather enough food. They have also had a bad time in swarming and subsequent need to mate. I seems to have five viable hives but they seem a bot weak going into the winter. I project the winter to be relatively mild so food resource is going to be an issue in the early spring. Anyone care to guess what the weather will be like in the spring of 2013?

The family stuff is just time spent. I hope the parties involved come to a decision. Christmas will be tricky.



  

Eating Strawberries

Sunday dawned clear and early, too early for me. I made a cooked breakfast to help get me going. It was a lottery as to whether it rain on not. I went to the lottie first determined to do some weeding. I got a few bags out my store at the lottie and took my spade along to Bed2. This bed had the onions and leeks last year. There were a few Leeks left in. Unfortunately there a several Docks too and they are big. Just for a change they are being out completed so are not too strong. I got stuck in a dug out all the docks and bagged them to be taken off site for disposal. It is quicker said than done. With the Docks out I went round and pulled up the Thistles and the Sow Thistles. They came away easily from the wet soil but as you can imagine a was getting covered in wet soil. The job needed doing though. I stopped after and hour. I was soaked but I had three big bags of weeds to show for my trouble. The plot does not look any better but the weed cover is much thinner and since the Dock were bagged before they seeded I have saved seven years weed. If only that were true. I had a chat with a lottie neighbour and cut some Asparagus before packing up to go to the Bees.

The drive across the farm to the bees was very muddy. Degsy managed the mud without an issue. The chunky cut tyres are coming into their own in the mud. I put on  my bee suit on and wondered what I would find when I went through the gate. I had already seen the River Mease and could see that it had dropped since last week. It was relatively dry underfoot but the grass was wet. There is lot of tall grass in the apiary so I got a second soaking. The hives had weathered the weather and the bees were flying freely. One the Queens has emerged in one of the hives but is not yet laying. I will leave that one until next week. If there are no eggs I shall unite the Nuc with this hive. One other Hive has a plump sealed Queen cells. I hope to find that Queen has emerged by next weekend and with luck may have started laying. The other hives are in good order and are lying in honey. I have just got to be patient. I think the hives are in good shape to bring in a honey crop in the next eight to ten weeks.

Back at home I tidied up my workroom. H and I marshalled our camping gear. We have a wedding next Saturday evening which requires camping at the venue. I hope the promised hot weather turns up this week even if it just dries out the ground. Depending how it goes I might even use my Christmas present which was a non-stick frying pan for my Trangia! We even tried to sit out side to read our books and eat the Strawberries H collected from the garden. It too blustery and cold so retired to the comfort of the living room. H was not far behind. Blooming British summertime.......

A very long day

H and I were in the car early Saturday morning and off to Manchester. My cousin and niece were in town so we arranged to meet. My brother, his missus and a couple of his fiends were also in Manchester that day. They had been to the Bruce Springstein concert the previous evening. It was nice being although together. The party folk had to get on the road back to Devon. The weather was promise foul in their neck to the woods so an early start back was a good idea.

H, coz and Mum and me went into town and sampled the delights of El Rincons for a lazy lunch. Tapas and Spanish wine, all very nice.  Click HERE for the website. Having had our fill we went for a tour of the Castlefield area of town since El Rincons is that end of town. We noticed that there traffic cones being places along the centre line of Deansgate. Deansgate is a major thoroughfare. We ask a chap what was going on...The Olympic torch was coming along in a few hours. We took our tour and tried another Spanish bar right on Deansgate. A bottle of bubbly later and the ladies were getting excited about the torch. We decided to go out ontot he street and join the gathering crowds. H got a flag to wave from street seller and was happy to run back and across Deansgate because:

A. It is very busy road and was closed to cars which was unusual
B. she could.  

The police outriders could be seen at the far end of Deansgate and coming our way. They were high fiving members of the crowd. H was in front of course. The procession slowly made it was to us. It was very exciting. As expected we had no idea who the chap carrying the torch was but it was defineitley the torch. After that excitement we took a circuitous route via the canals back to the car park and the onto my other brother. We spent a couple of hours with them which was nice then it was really time to go home. Coz was on a plane at 5.30 and we still had more than two hours drive to get home. It was a long but very enjoyable day.

Last week....wet, wet, wet

It had been raining most of the week. Somewhere between drizzle and downpours but all of the time some kind of rain was falling out of the sky. It was trailer weekend so I went off to do that job. That took me to the lottie. I tried some weeding but  I got covered in sticky soil as soon as I went near the plot. Nevertheless I yanked out some of the bigger weeds that where about to flower.With the trailer emptied in double quick time and a bit of weed pulling I was done and not too wet.

After dropping the trailer back to the stables I went on to the bees. The bees were flying despite the rail. I don't suppose you get to have evolved for 27 million year if a bit a rain stops you. I gave the hive a tap. The bees gave a buzz back. Some of the foragers were carrying pollen so those hives have Queens. One of the hive as a sealed Queens cell last week. The bees from that hive were not gathering pollen so I guess she has not yet emerged. Next weeks visit will tell.

I did not expect to be able to inspect the bees. The reason went she to see where the river was. Would it be within its banks or not. There had been flooding in other parts of the country. It was very wet under foot. To water was about an inch deep but the river had not over topped its banks but it was very full. The water under foot was just the elevated water table. The main hives are about 18inches off the ground so they would be fine. The Nuc was a different story. The Nuc is just sitting on an upturned plastic produce tray. I move the Nuc to one side and place the hive barrow in its place. I then put the tray and Nuc on the barrow, That lift the Nuc about 18 inches off the ground. Should the river flood and so long as there is little current The Nuc should remain dry. Bees are still coming and going from the Nuc which looks promising.

When I was at the lottie I lifted the roof on the hive and a look in I could see the bees were active and seemed to more of them. That is how it should bee. The bees had found the feeder and had gobbled up have the syrup. That will help build them up. I should say that this hive has a glass crown board so even when the roof is off the bees are contained in the hive. Removing the roof floods the inside of the hive with light which as you can imagine stirs the bees a little. However they are quite gentle and do not pile out of the hive to see who is disturbing them.

Last job was to drop in on my buddy who has found a projector screen for me. He is an avid user of Freecycle. Click HERE for the website. Freecycle is about reusing unwanted items and it is free.

Motoring through the Weeding

Well it has been a couple of tough weeks. The weather has been very wet but there has been plenty of wind, oh yes very windy. I pitched up at the lottie this morning. The clouds were high in the sky but grey. Not hint of rain but plenty of wind. I got myself ready and and got my gear to hand. I got a wheelbarrow full of manure and spread it out along the the trench left form the last efforts on clearing the potato bed, Bed1. I thought the soil would be wet and sticky but it was just the right amount of wet. The rain had penetrated right through the soil. That made the soil very easy to dig and break the weeds out. I set myself the task of weeding and preparing Bed1 for the main crop spuds. The seed potatoes are was past due in chitting. I was able to push the fork more than a spit into the soil. I ended up shifting a lot of soil but the bed did get turned over more than a foot deep. At each pass I generated a barrow load of weeds. Last weekend I had run over the plot with the scythe just the knock back the weeds from flowering or seeding. Scything is very therapeutic and sharpening it even more so but it is no surprise folks figured other ways the cut tall plants. It is back braking work. The point is that the barrow did not fill up so quickly. Each barrow load of weeds went in the big compo bin then I went to the poo bin, which is just next door and filled the barrow with well rotted manure which then went onto the face of the trench. All very efficient.

It was quite soothing with my music playing through my headphones and motoring through the digging. A couple hours saw me finish another third of the bed. I intend to plant five rows of spuds tomorrow. It should not take long to dig the remain part of the bed as a cleared then a little while ago.

I had a chat with Jonny in between his strimming. He did me a good turn by strimming round the front of the plot. That looks a bit tidier too. I had a brew. whilst idling I went and had a look at the bees. They are doing very nicely. They are coming and going but most importantly they a building up slowly. The top end of the plot looks quite nice because the hedge is in full leaf . The hive is just there and surrounded by bright orange Californian Poppies. I don't think it will be long before the self seeded Michaelmas Daisies will be out. I got on my hands and knees a weeded the middle path and the path between beds 1 and 2. It has made a big difference and another barrow load of weeds.


I had a little time on my hands so decided to prepare Bed4 for planting. That required me to dig out the volunteer potatoes that had started growing from the spuds missed in last years harvest. Bed4 is for Brassicas so needs firming up. That is done by treading the soil down. Al ones does is to stand we your heels together and shuffle forward pressing down on your heels. It really compacts the soil. I following a circular path until the all bed had been tread done. I got the rake out and levelled the soil then in tread the soil again but this time starting at one end treading across the bed, back and forth. It tread the soil in a different direction. Then I raked it again. The bed is now nice and flat and firm. The weed seedlings are also stomped and disrupted. Just before packing up I levelled off the compo bin a threw in a half barrow load of manure. Hopefully also the worms in the manure will start to get busy on the weeds. The bin is pretty full.

I am used to the Robins hanging around to grab the worms and pupae I have dug up but today I had a new set of mouths or should that be beaks waiting their turn on the fence.  Bullfinches. Their feathers are highly coloured and they are quite a big finch so made quite a sight. The Robins are looking scruffy but they must have almost finished rearing their brood.

   

New Nuc

The chaps at the lottie have been keen for me to run a hive for the greater good of the area. I consider my colonies too strong to be house near people. Not because they are aggressive just because folk get worried when they see hundreds of bees whizzing round the hive. I most cases these are just the new foragers learning the location.

I decided to do the right thing and ordered a nuc [nucleus] from a supplier I had used before. I supposed to pick them up from Rugby on Saturday morning. I text him to say I had paid and to make sure plans had not changed. He text back "thanks for the cash and by the way I am in Coalville do you want to collect the nuc"?. Coalville is only seven miles from my house. So at 10.30 pm I am in the car on my way to Coalville. I have not seen Paul for a while so we have a chat in the street for twenty minutes. His missus sticks her head out the door of the house to enquire after him which is a cue to put the nuc in my car, shake hands and go home.

I took the bees straight to the lottie and placed the nuc on top the hive I had positioned a few days earlier. I loosely wrapped some newspaper round them so they would not get a chill overnight. Then the tricky bit....pulling the foam stopper out of the door way. It was pitch black at the lottie, it being 11.30pm, but luckily quite cool. I eased out the plug and the bees where free. They came out quite readily but because the air temperature was low they could not fly.

They had a look round and seemed a bit frisky. I supposed you would be if you had a trapped in a box for 24 hours with loads of others on a hot day. The nuc has big mesh covered holes in the side and top which helps cool the nuc but the bees cannot escape. The nuc has stores but no access to water or space for flying, which bees are programmed to do. I watched them for five minutes and having decided they were happy enough I left for the night.

I was back at the lottie the next morning intending to transfer the bees from the nuc to their new home. A tree was shielding the morning sun from the hive which was good in one way but not in another. The good bit was that nuc was not over heating. The downside was that it was a bit cool for handling the bees and that has consequences. I had to move the nuc to dismantle the hive down the brood box and then take out the frames. It was not long before the first of the guard bees where examining the intruder .i.e. me. Getting the first frame out of the nuc is always tricky. The bees glue the frame with Propolis and the nuc is just a plastic box. It is a certanty that the nuc and all its bees will get jostled and bees don't like that. More bees in the air. I gave the frames a quick inspection as I moved them across to the brood chamber of the new hive. I found the queen, marked with a fetching red spot. It is important not drop her off the frame as you transfer her. A Queen on the ground makes for a very unhappy hive and beekeeper. No such worries for me but there were a lot of bees flying. They flew because there hive was upset, because of the upset the had had for the past few days and because it was not that warm. Cool bees don't fly too well and are not in the best of  moods. I got stung several times for my troubles. I filled out he remaining brood chambers with foundation; put on the queen excluder, placed on a super full frame of foundation then the crown board then a feeder full of syrup just show I did not hold the strings against them, then the empty super to house the feeder and then the roof. After that it is was a quick tidy up which only meant making sure the nuc box was empty of bees and picking up the spare brood frames. I made an orderly retreat to my bench at top of the lottie.

I must have made an odd spectacle as I sat on the bench in the full sun in my bee suit. From afar folks would not have seen the bees whizzing round me. In the hour it took house the bees the sun had peeked round the tree warming everything up. The bees where scenting with their Nasonove glands so meant the bees where being drawn into the new hive. Everything began to settle down. Since I had been stung a few times the bees were not that keen to leave me alone. I have learnt to sit still and be calm so as not to give off my human flight pheromones. Over about ten minutes the bees start to settle down to the extent they were landing on me and licking up the splashes of syrup from my gloves. I was happy enough that they settle in but would have liked to have stayed longer however I had to be in Manchester later the same day.             

Rendered wax

One thing I have been lacking is a way of dealing with wax from the hives. It needs to be melted and filtered before it can turned into something else. The wax frames from the brrod chambers needs to be removed from the hive after a few seasons. This to keep the frames full of fresh comb. Old comb, although the bees like it, can harbour all sort of desease and pathogens.

When I went to the BBKA spring convention I came away with the metal parts of a solar wax extractor which is a big tray plus a what looks like the bread tin. The tray holds the unrendered comb and the bread tin catches the melted wax. All I needed was some way to support the two metal items and fit a piece of glass to the front. A trip to B&Q a few weeks ago supplied a couple of sheets of plywood. I sketched out my plan based on what I know of extractors and the metal parts I had to hand. I cut the ply up then glued and nailed it together. It came together over a couple of hours on Monday evening. Although it could be finished a bit better it is very serviceable. The only thing I did not have was a piece of glass for the front cover. I had decided to leave the glass until I finished the build and buy the glasss when I had the final measurements. I got a chance today to nip out in my lunch hour to get a piece of 6mm float glass cut to size. I dropped into the house on the way back to work and fitted the glass to the box. It fitted a treat. I went back to work dreaming of rendered wax and all the things I can make from it. I already have some polish tins in the shed..

A well deserved shower

I had a look in the shed to check on the seed potatoes. They are long over due being planted. The second earlies are really leggy the main crop less so. I did not have anything to do on Wednesday evening and the evenings are light until past 9pm. H decided to come with me. H set herself up at the top of the lottie on a deckchair with her book. I had the floor, roof and brood box of a hive with me. I placed them on the stand at the top of the lottie.

I had dug over Bed1 and it was ready for planting. I got the plank I use as a straight edge and plonked it down across the bed. I used it as a guide to dig a trench. It took two passes to dig it deep enough. As I dug it down I met the layer of horse muck I had introduced whilst weeding.  So the plan worked. I had to pick the individual seed potatoes from the tray making sure I did not break off the sprouting haulm. It made the job a bit slower to complete as I also had to be careful when back filling the trench. I dug each trench in turn, placed in the seed spuds and back filled the row. It was very hot work but the soil was so light that five rows took a little over an hour and half to complete the job.

It was really good to be out in the gathering gloom. H pointed out the Sun. As it dipped to the horizon it was a fiery ball.  There were lots of birds about all making the best of the warm weather. The lottie's Robin is looking a bit scruffy. Times must be hard for him. We saw the Lapwings, Buzzard, Kestrel as well as lots of the small birds. We heard but did not see the Cuckoos and the Woodpeckers.''

I still had some time so went up to the top of Bed2 which is where the Bees are to live. I had weeded an small area round the hive on my last visit. I decided to clear the remainder of the area round the hive. It was a bit tricky because of the wire fence I had put in the way but whose job was to support Sweet Pea. This small area ten feet long by four foot filled a wheelbarrow to the brim and bit more besides.

The grape vines have started to break bud which is not before time. The Asparagus has started to sprout but bit in a random pattern. I think I am going to cut my losses with the Asparagus and use the bed for something more productive. I cut what was there for supper. H spotted that the Gooseberries where doing well. It is odd how plants some plants will do well despite the weather. As a parting shot I ran the hoe over the early potato rows that had sprouted just to knock back the chickweed which make another bid. By the time I had finished I was soaked in sweat so much so my clothes had darken where the sweat had soaked through on my back, chest and legs. It was not just because I had been working but because was so warm. No chance of dropping in at the Railway for a cheeky pint in that state. We trundled home in Degsy for a well deserved shower and a brew.

Swarm housed

I got a text from the farmer telling me there was a swarm in the hedge. As soon I could get away I went home and shot off to the apiary. It is dead handy having Degsy on the drive and ready to go. When I got to the apiary sure enough there was a swarm in the hedge. They has settled down so there were very few bees flying. I went a checked the hive I had fettled on Sunday. I guessed which hive might have swarmed. I was right. I checked the others and found they were quite happy. But I did have a dilemma. When I checked the hive that swarmed I found queen cups but nothing anywhere near being sealed. When I looked thorough hive B I found sealed Queen cells on two frames so I transferred one of the frames into the swarmed box. Now I three boxes with sealed Queens. With a bit of luck the queens will emerge, mate and settle down to laying.

I positioned a floor and a brood box under the swarm. I put an empty super over the brood box. I got as close as I could but the box was not under the swarm properly. I had a big cloth in Degsy I placed that under the swarm and draped it in to the super. I trimmed the hedge back to give myself some room. When I had room I pulled the branch down to the cloth then gave it a sharp rap. Most of the cluster fell onto the cloth. Tipped the cloth up and shook the bees into the empty super which acted like a big funnel depositing the bees into the brood box. I scooped up the remaining bees and put them in the super. I spread the cloth out in front of the entrance to the hive. The remaining bees crawled back along the clothe to the hive. It made it easier for them than scrambling through the grass. It was good for me because I could see bees on the floor. The last thing I wanted was bees crawling up my legs. It was a roasting hot afternoon which had me sweating but it was just right for the bees. Despite my actions the bees were calm enough. I put the super frames back into the hive carefully so as not to squash the bees. I covered the top of the super and went about preparing the apiary for the arrival of the newly hive swarm. When I went back to the swarm and found they had settled down in the hive. Lots of bees were fanning scent from the Nasenoff gland. A sure sign of the drawing in the flying bees. With that I left them to it and resolved to come back at dusk.

I nervously approached the hive in the gathering gloom. It was great to be out in the cool of the evening. There were no bees around the hived swarm. I lifted the lid and found a great gaggle of bees round the vent hole. When I bumped the hive the bees shook and growled. That was good because it meant there were lots of bees that were defending their home. I blocked the door up and carefully carried the hive the new spot in the apiary. I took the lid off the hive and added a second super, replaced the crown board, added a feeder then the eke and finally the roof. I almost forgot to take the door block out. When I did take the door block out the bees did not poor out which was good. A few guards came out which is normal. With fingers crossed I think I can say they swarm is caught and homed.

With a bit of luck the swarm will settle down and the new Queens will emerge and mate in the other hives. That means I will have four viable hives in three weeks time. Then they have the rest of the summer to make honey.    

 

Swarm prevention.

It got an early-ish night on Saturday so were up and about fairly early on Sunday. I had a couple of boiled free range eggs and toast for breakfast. It was then off the do the poo trailer run. As usual Chris and I had a chat. He was tackling the footings of a big lead too greenhouse. I left him too it and ran the trailer to the lootie and emptied it. I picked some Rhubarb and drop it off with Chris when I dropped off the trailer. The Sankey trailer is working well.

I went up to see the bees whilst I was in the area. I had to get a brood box and super whilst at the apriary. I put what I needed in Degsy. The big hive looked very quite. I resolved to go back later in the day. I had to go the Matlock to see a leather suppliers. Miss L came with me. After I had done what was needed we had a brew and Apple pie, which was nice. Upon returning home Miss L was dropped off and I took Degsy up to the apriary. My instinct was right given what I had seen the week before so swarm prevention was in order.

The double brood was ready to swarm. It had six sealed queen cells on a couple of frames. This was handy for me. The first job was to find the Queen. Given I was running a double brood it was difficult to locate her. There are twenty two frames in a double a brood that is forty four frame sides. Forty four minutes later I found her and fit and fecund she looked. I followed the directions in Ted Hooper's Guide to Bees and Honey for an artifical swarm which demanded finding the Queen. Upon finding her she and the frame she was on was put in a new and empty brood box. The big box had three very full supers, full of not only honey but bees. I decided to take advantage of the early swarming and the availability of bees and sealed Queen cells.

The Queen was put in new brood box. I put in a couple of drawn frames and filled the remainder of the box with foundation. I put a super plus the bees it contained over the brood box. Above the crown broad I put an eke and a feeder which contained two litres of syrup. The double brood hive was moved to a new location "B". I took five frames from the twenty two in the double brood, one of which contained a sealed Quee cell, this created hive "C".  The five frames went in with all the bees. I dropped on a super with its bees. With a bit of luck it will build up over the summer.

Hive "B" has several sealed Queen cells and very many bees. I dropped on a one of the three filled supers and an empty super. The brood box had been filled with five frames of foundation to replace the frames taken out for the nuc on box "C".  I tideied up the boxes, queen excluders, door closures, crown boards and roofs. I only had only one feeder and syrup to go with. I figured Hive "A" needed a feed more than other hive so that is hwhere it went. Boxes B and C were very quiet but box A still sounded like a jet engine. I got stung many times but that was no real surprise. It was only 13 degrees centigade which is not really warm enough plus a pulled a very strong hive to bits several times. Luckily I do not react badly to strings but it does not mean I like it. The bees were not agressive but settled down after the initail dimantling of Hive A.When I had finished I leaned against the wire fence and made my notes whilst I watched the hives settle down. It was funny trying to write with bees buzzing round the pen. Now I just have to sit back and wait for the queens to emerge, mate and start laying.      

Weeds. oh lots a weeds

Saturday was suppossd to be wet and it had been rain on and off all week. I took a punt on Saturday and went to the lottie. It was overcast but not raining. I decided that Bed 1 need more work. Bed1 is the spud bed this year. I opened the compo bin and got the wheelbarrow ready. I forked over the bottom of the trench then threw in a wheelbarrow of rotted manure. After that it was just a case of forking over the ground and throwing the weeds in to the barrow. Overall the main weeds in this bed are the Pineapple weed with a bit of Chickweed. It smelt really nice as I stomped on it as I weeded. The weeds were wet but the soil was fairly dry. One pass of across plot equalled one barrow of weeds. I tipped that barrow load in the compo bin then loaded up another barrow load of manure. Then did the cycle all over again. In got half the plot dug over. I did four cycles before I ran out of time. Roundup came for a a chat. As usual I carried on digging as he chatted.

Next I decided to tackle the the weeds at the top of Bed 2. This where the bees are  to live. Although the area did not look that weedy it yielded a very full barrow for little over half a pass. I had run out of time because Miss L was due home and I had to go the birthday party that evening.

The weeds are growing nicely in the rain but the poor air temperature is slowing them down, which is handy.  

Bank Holiday

As Monday was a Bank Holiday in the UK and the last day of my break I was determined to get some work done at the lottie. I took myself and Degsy away early. The forecast was for rain but it was dry when I got up and fully expected it come on to rain at some point. Dave P was already busy on his plot as was Sandy. I dug up the Garlic that had over wintered and starter sprouting. A few days ago Sandy had said that her Garlic had rotted in the ground. I broke up the bulbs and gave Sandy a handful. I planted out the remaining cloves in Bed3.


I dug out the big compost bin and left a big pile of fresh compost on the patio. I needed the room for all the weeds I have to deal with. I decided that I needed to clean up more Bed4 for brasicass. I got the wheelbarrow out and placed it on the plot then set are the weeds in the usual way. The soil had dried out since my last visit which made the perfect digging conditions.

 It took me about two hours to clear three yards of the bed. That was also three very full wheelbarrows of weeds. Whilst I was about it I weeded the bottom path by Bed4. It looks good. By 1pm I was getting tired so I packed up. The wind was cold and it was starting to spit with rain but I had already decided to go home.














At home I had a few things to do including setting up the new rotary drier. H is very pleased with it and I was quite pleased with my mornings work.

A stroll

Sunday was a non-starter as far as the lottie was concerned. H and I went out for a walk instead. We parked up at Staunton Harold and walked over to Calke Abbey. We had a look round the craft fair and a cup of tea. Then we walk on to Ticknall. Most of it down the epic tree lined drive. We looked in on the village hall which had a exhibition mounted. We knew the artist and are not fans of her work so we strolled on.  The Staff of Life and The Chequers were both closed so we had no opportunity to wet are whistle so we wander back across the fields to Staunton. The weather was dry but not sunny and a wind was quite cold. The story of the weekend really.

Click  HERE for a link to eh map of the route.

There was still a good part of the afternoon left so we decided we would have a stroll round Melbourne. It only a few miles from Staunton Harold. We parked at the top of the village and walk through the lane to towards the pond. We walked pasted the Dower House. It was open as part of the NGS [National Gardens Scheme] in which private gardens are opened to the public for charitable donations. The gardens of the house border the pond. It was a bright sunny afternoon and it made the best of the house's position. We met the owners William and Giselle. They were terribly nice but fun none the less.

Moira Piscatorials

Saturday was a going to be a day full of work at the lottie. I did the poo run and when I got back to the lottie the wind had a promise of rain in it. I got my gear ready only to have a shower roll across the lottie. I was feeling peckish on the was back from the stables so I had bought a sausage roll and a sandwich from the general store in Overseal. I set up the Trangia for a brew but the wind was howling in the back door of Degsy. I pulled the back of the centre seat down to from a table. I put the Trangia on it and fell on my repast whilst the Trangia heated the water to a boil. With the back door closed and the Trangia burning Degsy was nice a cosy whist I read a few chapters of my book. I had a nice hot brew to go with my chocolate bar as a pudding to my dinner along with the book. I had an appointment at 2pm. The weather let up but there was no time to do anything worth while.

The went back home and got washed and changed. I had a appointment at The Railway Inn as guest of the Moira Piscatorials. We have few pints whilst we relived the latest fishing match and I reviewed the match log. That was me done for the afternoon.

Tea and Cake

The weather has not been on my or anyone elses side this week. Too wet and windy for bees and too wet for the lottie. It managed to stop raining during Thursday night so on Friday morning so nipped up to the lottie and surveyed the weedy patch I call an allotment. I set about the bottom end of Bed4. The soil was really wet but not sodden. At least the weed cover helped keep the soil off my boots. The soil dug really well but as usual I dug too deep. This means a move more soil than a might wish to and makes it light and fuffy.  This bed is going to home to brassicas so I am going to have to tread it down to a very firm seed bed. The greenhouse has many trays of cabbages and caulis coming on to the planting out stage.

It did the usual process put the wheelbarrow put out of reach then work side to side across the plot loosening the soil and pulling the weds. The weeds went in the barrow and then into the compo bin. The weeds have really enjoyed the weather especially the rain. I will have to work a bit more often to get the plot cleared and planted.

On the plus side the early spuds are starting to break the ground. I gave the spud area a good hoeing as there is a flush of weed seedlings. The buds on the vines are starting to swell. I got the hoe busy on Bed3 that had I prepared a few weeks ago. I have bought a net of white onions sets and a net a red onion sets. Having hoe'd off the Bed3 I laid out the plank which I used straight edge to the rows of onions. I used a dibber to mark holes in the bed and dropped an onion set in each hole. A hundred dibs and sets later I was done.

I had an appointment in Ashby with my farmer friend at 2pm. I went home and got showered and changed then walked into Ashby. We got the cafe at the same moment. Over tea and cake we had a good chat about expanding my bee enterprise. Having a home for many colonies is dependant on space so Mrs B's buy-in is important. It turns out keeping bees on the farm is a plus point for them.

Sploshing with Degsy

We have had some weather this week. Lots and lots or rain which is ironic since a drought was declared a few weeks ago. H and I had to do lunch in Loughborough on Saturday for one of H friend's birthday.  We had a very nice lunch at Brown's. We were done by 2pm but the weather wasn't.  I had said that I make a holster out of leather. I made the former and soaked the leather, put it in the former then clamped it all down and left it for the evening.

To add to the rain the wind got up. Full gales all night. I had put away want I thought might get blow around in the garden. The wind found new things to blow about. No damage done. The rain hammering on the window all night made me think about the bees. I had hope the weather would ease up but a leisurely breakfast came and went before the wind settled down. I got a a cake of bee candy from the shed put on my warm clothes and trundled off to the bees. I should not have worried. The hives where sheltered from the worst effects of the gales by the hedges. I took the roof of the hive and using the hive tool levered up the supers to see where the bees were. They were a bit slow but they were not clustering. I took the feed off and replaced it with an eke, dropped the candy on the top of the frames, put the crown board back and finally the roof. As a precautionary measure I ran a ratchet strap over the hive to make sure it stayed put. It was good to out in the wild and woolly weather. It was just a pity I could do the planned work at the lottie.

Having sploshed home in Degsy, H and I had bacon butties to see us through to dinner.The weather did give a smashing, conscience free excuse to watch the MotoGP.  I spent the rest of the afternoon fettling with the leather I had let mould overnight turning it into the holster. I was quite happy with the result. Having made one holster I was able the create a template then trim the leather side.

I have a few days off next week. With a bit of luck the weather will have cleared up so I can do my lottie.   

Hairy Bittercress

I was almost guaranteed to have the lottie to myself this evening. On my last visit I had left a wheelbarrow full of weeds because I needed to empty a black compost bin. I got a black bag from my store. The top end of Bed3 has a lot of Hairy Bittercress [pictured]. It is a pain because it can run to several generations in one year. If only crops grew that fast. The bittercress was already in seed so I needed to make sure it did go in the compo bin. As I cleared the soil I bagged the weeds. That gave me a clear spot on the bed to empty the compo bin which I did. Having tidied up the area round the bin I dumped in the weeds from the wheelbarrow and the pile of weeds I had dumped nearby the previous weekend. With less than half the width of the bed to go the weeds changed from mainly Hairy Bittercress to mainly grass and Red Deadnettle. Those went straight in the compo bin. When I finished the bed I spread out the pile of compost into a fairly thin layer. I used the fork as a rake to dress the soil into a seed bed. The recent rain and frost has the soil in a perfect condition for bed preparation and cool temperatures have held back the worst excesses of the weeds. It is a pity I will be in London for a few days this week as I could get the remainder of bed3 finished with an hour of so each evening this week.

Black Powder

I decided not to go to Cumbria for a Bee auction. I knew I would spend too much money. Instead I decided to do something a little closer to home. Whilst doing some research I came across the website to The British Association of Shooting and Conservation [BASC] Click HERE for the website. They were holding their gamekeepers fair not very far from home. H decide she would come along too. We also decided to go in Degsy. It would be just the right company for him in the car park. We could tell we were getting close because every vehicle was a 4x4. It had rained most of the previous day so the car park, which was just a huge field on a hillside, was a becoming cut up and a bit sticky as hundreds of cars rolled in. No bother for Degsy. We strolled up the entrance, presented our discounted tickets, and made our way to a snack bar for a bacon butty and a brew. The sun was out but the wind was a but fresh when it blew.

Sustained we set off down the first avenue of trade stands. Despite the number of cars we had seen in the car park it did not feel over pressed in the avenue between the stalls. There was the usual stalls of country wear, every conceivable gadget for fishing, shooting, riding, dogs, ferrets, raising stock, managing land and many other niche products. There are whole other worlds out there and we were getting an insight to it. We met some one we knew at the leather suppliers stall. H got to pet a whole Beagle pack. We watched a few of the arena displays only to realise that these were the people we were having a good chat to about there horses or dogs. On the third pass by the Honda quad display I could not resist taking up the offer of a spin. The chap was very pleased to have someone to talk to about bikes. I had a spin on three of the quads. They have lots of low down torque and even have four wheel drive and power steering.

we had a good look round the food marquee. There was lots to see, small and taste. Inevitably we bought some goodies. I had a chat with a beekeepers and compared notes with hime a the winter and swarming mangement technique. I was surprised to find to was starting the use the shook swarm method which I have always used.

I had a coo over the shot gun suppliers. There was 12 gauge, 20 gauge and 410 shot guns, under and over, side by side, semi-automatics, old, new, bespoke and all manner of airguns. I would like to be able to shoot on a regular basis. There is a club in Swad which I should look into. There was very interesting display which took in a number of interests in one go. The people did Deer stalking in Scotland and supported the guns using horses. They had a highland breed of type called a "Garron". He was quite big for a pony and very stocky with stout legs. He looked like he could go all day without stopping. The Garron was used to carry the stag carcass back from the hillside. For that job they have a special saddle which I had to have a good look at. We had a good look at the special dog breeds. The Beagle pack was good. Forty hounds controlled by a couple of whipper ins. There was a pack of Bloodhounds. They were less controllable but still well whipped in. Lastly the Otterhounds. Apparently they are quite rare and not surprising as they are big and active animals.

There were a couple of bird of prey groups. H was very taken with the Owls. She was particularly taken with the Little Owl. The Eagle owls were very impressive as they sat impassively on their perches. One display was by a historical firearms group. They explained the history of firearms which took in the guns themselves but also the development of the ammunition. The chap dressed as a 18th century redcoat rifleman did a very good display of shooting a reloading a musket. The standard infantry of the day were considered good if they got off three rounds in a minutes. This chap just got of four rounds and three reloads in the minutes. It was impressive display of dexterity and drill. We gave all the trade stands and craft stalls a good coat of looking at. We bought some Cromer dressed crab and a flagon of cider both as gifts for our hosts that we would be dining with later that same evening. I even got a pair of new shoes at a bargain price. We were about done so made our way back to Degsy. Whilst we loaded Degsy I looked around to see where the noise of the shooting was coming from. There had been a steady stream of shotgun reports as a background to the day. We walked over to see what was going on. There was a group firing black powder rifles and you could have a go. A had a couple of shots of a flintlock muskets. They were firing a clay pigeons which I thought was a bot optimistic. I missed the first clay and hit the second. The chaps were enthusiasts and were having s great time. The stand next door was much more serious. There were the BASC themselves. I parted with a bit of cash and had a lesson of clay pigeon shooting. The chap was were knowledgeable and patient with me. After a few misses and corrections I started hitting the clays on a regular basis. The best thing was that a got the choose a gun to use. The chaps went straight for a 12 gauge under and over. I selected a 20 gauge semi-automatic. It was lovely to shoot.

The wind was really cold up on the hill and that finished H off. I was feeling it too so we strolled back over to Degsy, fired him up and trundled home across the flood plain of the River Trent. We dropped in on the Bees, as we had to go right past them. It was very cold at the apiary. I was able to have a peek in the hive and all seems well. I dropped off the hive parts that I have had in Degsy for the past week. I took an inventory of the apiary, packed up Degsy and went home. I had a sit down and a brew before getting ready to go out for dinner. I climbed in to bed just after 1pm and was instantly a sleep. That was a very full and rewarding day.

Clayton's

I had the day off today. I had planned a trip to Matlock to see a leather workers suppliers. I needed a skiver and some edging gum. Whilst I was there I got into conversation with Charlotte. During the chat she let slip that there was a leather suppliers in Chesterfield. Chesterfield is not twenty minutes drive from Matlock. I gave them a call. They were open and gave me directions. But first we had to have lunch at H favorite cafe in Matlock. To be fair I was ready for lunch and it set me up for the afternoon. H and I found Claytons without a problem. Clayton's is a tanners in Chesterfield. Not only that but the building was purpose built in 1840 as a tannery by a Joseph Clayton and has been in the same family since it's founding. It is a fantastic place. Purpose built and doing the same job today as the day it opened. Not only that but prospering.

H and I presented ourselves at the office. The formidable Margaret greeted us and gave us directions to "Les", the foreman of the warehouse. We trooped over to Les's domain. His domain was an Aladdin's cave of leather. Les was grumpy to begin with as he had a rush order to fill for Germany. I told Les what I was after and he was a mine of knowledge. He was at the top of his game and the king of his domain. He had a couple of youths that did the hand balling of the leather under his direction. One lad Jim was shifting leather about on a bogie that was new in 1840 and had any number of Jim's hauling on the rope of that bogie since then. I happily parted with a few quid for nine square feet of general purpose saddle shoulder. I am going to get a tour of Clayton's tannery one of these days.

Ambion Hill

Saturday morning found me doing the poo trailer run. It was nice to out and about in the spring weather. I dug up some of the Leek that had over wintered. They have weathered remarkable well. Very little rust and the stalks were very firm. I trimmed them up at the lottie. The compo bin smells very strongly of Leek.
When I dropped the trailer back to the stables I gave the Leeks to Angie & Chris. Back at the lottie Bed3 beckoned but first I had to put the wheelbarrow wheel back on.

There were the remains of a few Chard that had not made the winter. Digging them up clear large potions of the bed. It was just a case of digging over what was not disturbed by the removal of the Chard. Raking out this part of the bed was harder work but it come together. Once finished I had prepared about half the bed. It ready for planting.

There are a lot of weeds but I justified them by noting that they were full of Bumble bees and Ladybirds. That's my story and I am sticking to it. Other folks came down to the lottie so we had to have a chat. That put a dint in the work but it was nice all the same. I was done in by one o'clock so went home for some lunch, Corn beef and Branston pickle.

In the afternoon Miss L, H and I had a outing to place were the Battle of Bosworth field took place. This place was the last time a king lost his life and crown on a battle field. Purist will say the battle took place a little further away but tens of thousands of men take up a lot of space. There is a flag on the top of Ambion Hill that is supposed to mark King Richard III's camp. Click HERE for the website. It was a grey day whilst we were there but it is a spot that has an air about it.

On the way home we dropped by The Rising Sun in Snarestone for a cheeky pint. Timothy Taylor for me; half a Guinness for H - for medicinal purpose you understand and a half of cider for Miss L, one of her five a day. Cider it is made from Apples after all.

Whips

The weekend was set fair for Friday and Saturday and given as deteriorating Sunday and Monday. Well it is Easter Bank Holiday weekend! I went to the lottie on Friday morning. I need to get busy weeding and turning the beds from a mass of Pineapple weed and Red Deadnettle into a seed beds but first a work party job. A bucket full of two year old whips (Young hedging plants) had been left at the end of my plot. The whips were to be planted in the space made vacant by felling the Willows. I got a small spade and went the area to be planted. The ground is hardly improved since the plots were laid out. The "soil" is mainly blue clay. I decided where the whips were to be planted by placing out the whips on the ground. One by one I stabbed the spade into the clay and made a slot by moving the spade back and forwards. Next I dropped in a handfull a wiggly wonder worm cast, I won this at a raffle, into the slot. I figured the whips needed some help. Then the whip was placed in the slot and heeled in. I just had to that forty odd times and the job was done. I am hoping for a nice thick hedge in five years.

I decide that I had a week or two before I put more spuds in but I have not yet planted any Onions or Garlic. I went to get my wheelbarrow only to find it had a puncture. I took off the wheel and put it in the back of Degsy. I had no way to fix it at the lottie. I went over to another plot and borrowed their wheelbarrow. With the right tools in hand I went up to the bed3 and made a start. It had rained earlier in the week but the soil was reasonable digging condition. The weeds came out easily which was just as well I had a lot to do and not much time to give to the job. As I went along I also weeded the side path. They are so much easier than dealing with the centre path however I did dig out the pernicious and perennial weeds from the centre path. When I had done about an hour or so I stopped digging and started raking. The bed looked great.

The next job and to rest my back, was to chop down some more of the overhead netting. After four years of weather the plastic netting has become brittle and starting ripping. I pulled down another section. I had to pick up all the shreds that fell off. I rolled it all up and put in the bags with all the other netting. I moved over to Bed1 which was for spuds. I change tack a little. I took a wheelbarrow load manure and spread it along the trench left by the last session of weeding. Then I loosened up the bottom of the trench then worked my way long the trench weeding and turning the soil over the manure. I decided this was the process I would adopt on the remainder of the bed.

Time was running out so I did a little hand weeding in the Asparagus bed to clear the few weeds I missed the week before. The Garlic in the greenhouse has failed to germinate however the Garlic I missed harvesting last year is growing very nicely in Bed2 so I shall be digging them up, splitting them and replanting them in Bed3. H got me a net full of White Onions and Red onion sets during the week so they have to go in soon.

When I got home I went in the garage and got the inner tube out of the tyre and glued on a patch. A few hours later I put the tube back in the tyre and pumped it up. Another job done. I put the wheel back in Degsy ready of the next morning.

A brew earned

The clocks went forward this morning, it is British Summertime, so an early start was an hour earlier. I had to run over the Donnington Park to have a look at the market there. It was very distracting to hear the bike racing on the other side of the wall without seeing what was going on. There was lots to see but nothing to buy. I still got parted from a tenner for "stuff". A pair a sun glasses and some dappy dils. We came home and had a brew and spot of lunch.

Lunch done and air temperature suitably warm I went over to the bees. Even before I opened hive I could see all was well. The foragers were coming home covered in pollen not just packed into the bees corbicula ("little basket") on their hind legs , bright yellow pollen. That will be Willow pollen. I took the hive down layer by layer. I found the bees big, black and glossy. These were the bees that had over wintered.. There were a few scrapes of bee candy left. When I went through the top brood box I was delighted to find lots of brood at all stages of development. In the bottom box I found bees were starting to emerge. That means two things. Firstly the hive has weathered the winter. Secondly the over wintering bees are assured of being replaced. Not surprising there was plenty of pollen in the frames but there was also a good deal of early stage honey. As I reassembled hive I put the brood boxes together in the usual manner, cleaned up and replaced the Queen excluder. I then put on a new super with clean foundation then the old super. Above that I put on the feeder and dropped in the remainder of the candy then the roof. The bees settled down very quickly. I tidied up the apiary and walked back to Degsy.

I trundled over to the lottie and parked Degsy up. Again it was really sunny but not very hot. I used a plank to give me a edge and dug a trench along its length. Then I spread in a wheelbarrow full of horse manure along the trench and dropped in a seed potato regular intervals. The first earlies are called "Anya". It remains to be seen how they perform. After that I back filled the trench by using the rake to pull in the spoil from the trench. I did six trenches which was 72 seed potatoes. The soil being so light from the previous day's digging was easy to work. By the time I had completed three trench I reckoned I earned a brew. When I had finished I had a little time spare. I got on my hands and knees and weeded the Asparagus bed and then the Rhubarb bed. They looks really good.

Dave G and Dave P came down as I was on the last lap. Dave G came over for chat as usual. He had to talk to the back of my head but he is used to that. When I was done I had a chat with Dave P. He gave me some of his spare red onion sets and white sets. Now I just need to plant them!

A nice sit down

Saturday was a day of two halves. The morning was foggy and cold but not dark. The sun was up there somewhere. I was out early to do the poo trailer. I ran the trailer up the lottie and dumped the muck on the area we dropped the trees last week. Steve has organised some whips with which to replant the area. In the time it took me to run the trailer back to the stables and head over to Swadlincote the sun had burned off the fog. Still the air temperature was not high a bit like being in the mountains, bight sunshine but not hot.

There is a Sainsbugs at Swad and petrol is always cheap. I got my quota of petrol for Degsy then went round to a new shop I had found out about. T W Warehouse is in Cadley Hill just outside Swad. Click HERE for their website. It is a wonderland for tools and blokey stuff. I got some new work trousers. I took myself home for a spot of lunch. I had a read of a couple of chapters of my book then loaded up Degsy, got my brew stuff together and went of the to the lottie.

I had decide that I needed to weed the potato plot [bedA]. I took the fork a set about the usual task. Usual rhythm. Start at one edge of the plot, fork in driven into the ground, lever it back, turn the sod over and drop it on the ground and pull out the weeds, weeds in wheelbarrow. When the wheelbarrow was full the weeds went into the black compo bin. Just do that for a couple of hours and a third of the plot is dug over a foot deep and weed free. Part way through I had a nice sit down to listen to the birds over a brew and a Blue Ribbon.

It was repetitive work but I got there in the end. The soil just fell apart and once it was raked out it gave a a light seed bed. That was as much as could do for the day. The sun was still well above the horizon when I left. I was surprised that I was the only one at the the lottie all day. I also weeded the path alongside bedA. The compo bin is now crammed to the lid.

No digging

Saturday was going to be a busy day. First I had to run out to Newall to see the potato men to collect this year's seed potatoes. I got my usual Cara and Duke of York. This year's "new" variety is Anya. The look of the Ayna spuds was not what I was expecting. The Potato men were really busy with a queue of blokes eager for their order. I also picked up a bag of the reclaimed compost at the same time. Then it was straight on to Shrewsbury to see the Mother in Law. We went for lunch at the Bridgewater Arms, then a cheeky half at The Railway Inn at Yorton and then a walk round Wem and a "cup of tea!" in The Fox. So all in all not a bad day out.

Sunday was supposed to be a digging day at the lottie. The overnight rain and the continuing rain through the morning put paid to that idea. I decided to have boiled egg and toast soldiers. Instead I went into the greenhouse and filled up loads of seed trays with compost and sowed a selection of seeds; Igloo Cauliflower, Greyhound Cabbage, Dreadnought Broad Beans, Bedford Champion Onions, Winter Giant Leek, Parsley, Sage, Strawberry Sticks (whatever they are), Brussel Sprouts, Spinach, Celeriac, Good King Henry, Basil, Calabrese. I even sowed some flower seeds, Convoulus, Red Hot Poker, Carnation & Marigold. I organised the hose so could water the plants easily. The rain eased off and the sun came but the lottie would be soaked. So I looked out another job.

One of my bee colonies died out over the winter. Three frames had bees head first in the comb. I tapped the frame on one of the posts in the garden which dislodged a lot of the bodies. Those that were not dislodged I picked out with tweezers. It was a right bind so I sat in the garden, in the sun with a frame braced between my knees picking out bees one at a time. You should know there are 2000 cells on each side of a National frame. I spent an hour or so picking away. I damaged some cells but not many. Drawn cells on brood frames are too precious to throw a way so it was worth the effort. I just have to sterilise the frame and comb before reusing the frames.

It won't have escaped your notice that the template of the blog has changed. The new format is easier for updating the lists. I spent an hour on the blog, firstly to see what I could change it too and how easy it was. I saved the code for the old blog then changed the template to the new one. Then I just had to edit the side bar lists. It was Mother's Day so I rang my Mum then made dinner for H. No digging today but I got a lot of other jobs done. The seeds can look after themselves for a few weeks and then I will have loads to plant out and lottie will suddenly look full.

Beautiful day

When I got up H had already gone out for a walk. I settled for bacon, egg, bread and tea instead. My arms were feeling tight after yesterday's exertions. Breakfast done and pots washed I decided on another brew and read of my current book. Looking out the window over the garden I could see the sky was blue but the Willows at the bottom of the garden were whipping about. The question was....how cold was that wind. After a couple of chapters I sorted myself out and went to the lottie. I got there at 10.30 and was surprised to find I had the place to myself. This was the first time this year where I really had time to do my plot rather than other chores round the site. I took the customary walk around the plot to see what was going on. Damaged netting and weeds mainly however Garlic and onions missed from last year harvest where sprouting. Poppies from last year are growing as is the Rhubarb.

The worst bed for weeds is bed 1 which is the one I had trouble with last as a result of the Willows. Now the Willows are gone the plot feels lighter. I decided that bed A should get my time. This bed is having potatoes this year so needs clearing on weeds. I got the wheel barrow ready and figured that if I was going to drop the weeds in the black compost bins adjacent to the bed I should probably empty it first. The bin came off the contents easily. I skimmed off the top couple of inches of compost that was not properly converted. The remainder I shovelled into the barrow and when full wander to the other end of the bed to tip the contents. The bin yielded three full barrows of prime compost. It was doubly satisfying as the compost was made from the weeds pulled up last year. Circle of life and all that.

I set about the bed with the fork and as usual I could not stop myself dropping the fork in to the soil a full spit when the weeds were just in the top few inches of the soil. The soil was nice and moist so it dug easily. The weeds were the usual suspects; Clover which is a good producer of Nitrogen in the soil, Red Dead Nettle which flowers early so I like to leave it for the Bumble bees but needs just in this case, Creeping Buttercup, Dock but not many these days and then only small ones and masses of Pineapple Weed. The previous day asked me if the sumptuous weed cover on Bed A was a green manure. I had to confess it was not however it could be. The traditional notion of a green manure is a plant that is grown only to be dug into the soil before flowering. In a sense that is what the weeds will end up doing although they will have to go through a compost bin first. I did say that I would leave the ground covered in whatever grew over the winter as a positive action. I think the experiment has been successful in that the soil is full of worms so the soil is in good heart and the weeds will end up back on the plot in twelve months time as compost.

I did my usual thing and worked back and forth across the plot. By the time I had one wheelbarrow worth of weeds I was feeling the exertion. I put the kettle on, tipped the wheelbarrow of weeds into the waiting compost bin, tipped out the bacon scraps, that I had brought from home, to feed the waiting Robin. I took the tomato bins out of Degsy and placed them by the manure pile. The kettle was ready by then so I got he deck chair out, placed it in the sun and plonked myself on it to enjoy my brew. The Robin so came down the feed on the bacon. The little birds do not seem to miss the Willow. They flew up and down the hedge line quite freely. I notice there seems to be a lot of rooks and crows about this year. Back to work. I dug another wheelbarrows worth of weeds and that brought me up to nearly 1pm. The soil was looking really good although the cover of weeds slowed the clearing of the area down a lot. I ran into a lot of roots from the Willows. I had the cut them back when they fouled the fork. The barrow was emptied into the waiting bin again but this time the lids was put on.

I took the fork and barrow up the Bed 3 and dug up the remaining Sprouts and Chard. The soil on that bed is fairly weed free so should be quick to bring up the a seed bed. I chopped the spouts into the big compost bin and put the stalks and the Chard roots in a bag to take home. These items go in the green bin at home. I figured the council can make a better job of composting these items than I can. I went round the bottom end of the plot and pulled down an area of tatty netting, rolled it up and put that in a bag. I still have a fair bit of netting yet to remove but it is no effort to remove it.

The last job was to fill up the blue Tomato bins with manure. The six Tomato bins live in the greenhouse at home. I had noticed that the manure pile seemed have collapsed in the last week of so. I knew why and it is evident as soon as I dug a spadeful out. The shovel had nearly as many worms as manure. The warm weather and the bit of rain must really suit the worms. I packed up Degsy, locked up the barrow and headed home.

At home H was busy in the back garden. Apparently she had just sat down.....with a cup of tea and biscuit. I placed the blue bins under the staging in the greenhouse and emptied the bag of spout stalks into the green bin. H had been busy. The green bin was nearly full. I dug up the renegade Raspberry canes and discouraged a Comfrey plant. You cannot kill comfrey. You have discourage it by digging it up and slashing the leaf off regularly. At least the leaves make a good addition to the compost heap.

H and I had a brew and a sit in the sun with brew. After a while I went for a shower. We then went down to Moira Furance and had a walk along the canal to Donisthorpe and back. U2's tune "Beautiful Day" was on the radio at breakfast and it turned out to be a really beautiful day.

Tree fellas

Poo trailer run today. That was a harder than it sounds. Last night was the the spring meeting of the allotment society. Good company, chat and Guinness. I had a flat tyre when I went out to Degsy. I got the stirrup pump out and set about pumping air in which is not what you need with a headache. I managed to get enough air into the tyre to get me to the garage for a proper inflation. I think it is just a slow puncture as the tyre stayed up all day. The tyre issue made me a little late for the trailer collection but since I now have a key for a gate Angie was not inconvenienced. I had a little time on my hands I went over the Apiary. I unhitched the trailer in the coppice before driving Degsy across the meadows. The sun was bright and the air temperture was about 13C with a light breeze. Just for a change the wind did not have a bitterly edge. Spring must be on the way!

The River Mease, that borders the Apiary, was a higher than normal but no where near flooding. I could tell as I approached the hive that all was well. I could see bees coming and going. I took up position against the fence and watched the bees for quarter of an hour. I popped the lid off the hive and saw that the bees had broke out of the cluster and were helping themselves to the candy I had put on the hive a few weeks ago. I noted that the bees were not bring in any pollen but the bees were flying freely and with purpose. Some time bees just fly round the hive but these bees were flying off into the counryside hopefully to find a source of pollen. Time was passing so I left the bees, collected the trailer and went to the lottie. Working at half speed I spread the trailers contents on the top end of the boundary hedge. The I trundled back to the house and had a spot of lunch.

Alan came round at the appointed hour. We put all his chainsawing gear in the back of Degsy and set off for the lottie. I had not taken the trailer back to the stables so Sankey tagged along too. I parked Degsy up on the track at the back of the lottie. Alan got togged up for chain sawing. Alan and I stood back and wondered just how we were going to drop the seven, thirty foot Willow trees. They have been standing over my lottie for many years but last year they got the better of me. The roots have invaded my plot and sucked all the water out of the plot. The bed next to the Willow was Peas and Beans and they did not do at all well. It surprising just how much shade they cast too.

Having pondered the situation Alan set about trimming back the smaller side branches. I cleared the brash Alan created. Slowly we worked down the trunks clearing space to work. It was not long before Steve turned up. So now we were three fellas felling trees. Steve had ideas about what to do with cut down trees and brash. He cleared away and broke down brash even further. As we got going DaveP and his lad, Harry, turned up. They mucked in with Steve to make "habitates" for bugs and beasts. They are no more than tight bundles of brash hemmed in with pegs into the ground.

There were a few trees that were tricky to fell. The difficult bit was that the trees were in the hedge and the hedge has two fences, a timber one on the inside and a wire rabbit fence on the outside face. When we dropped the tree we had to make sure we did smash either fence. To control the fall of the tree we tied a rope to the tree as far up as I could climb and the other end the Degsy's bumper. As Alan cut through the tree I backed up Degsy which directed the fall. Once the tree was on the ground Alan trimmed off the branches and chopped the trunk into lengths. Again I cleared branches and trunk to the track side. Steve, Dave and Haz kept clearing the brash but we left the trunks where they lay.














Haz was put in charge of brewing up. Eventually brews were made using his Kelly's kettle. Click HERE for their website. Steve had brought cake with him that his missus had made, Lemon drizzle cake. Very nice and a very welcome sugar rush. We had broken the back of the job. After the brew we cleared away the last of the brash. We then tackled the logs. Alan cut then logs into smaller lengths. The rest of us loaded the logs in the the trailer. It was surprising:
a. How small a pile the brash made when cut up and stamped down
b. How much wood was in the logs.

We packed up Alan's chainsaw gear, hooked up the trailer and headed off home. I had a brew when I got home with Alan. Having decanted Alan's gear from Degsy to his car Alan headed home and headed off to Dave P's to drop off he logs. Logs tipped I trundled off to the the stables to drop the trailer. The ponies were just on the other side of the hedge and completely uninterested in the trailer returning. On the way home a went via the lottie to empty the scraps bin from home that had been in the back of Degsy all day. I fed the birds and took a few pictures of our handy work. The trees were out of proportion for the hedge and now, despite the gaping hole in the hedge like a missing tooth, it somehow looks better. I am going plant Hawthorn, Hazel and Holly to replace the Willow. And now I am done. I parked Degsy at home and went in for my tea completely satified with the day activities.

Greenhouse

Today, Sunday 3rd March, I woke up to rain pattering on the bedroom window. Yesterday was mizzling for part of the day. The weatherman said it would be so but I did not believe them. I might have to start paying attention to what they say. They seem to be getting forecast right more often these days.

Since I had an appointment in the middle of the day I could not go to the lottie. Instead I decided to tackle the greenhouse. I took out the bins that held the Tomato vines last year and emptied them onto the apple tree patch. The bins were filled with horse muck and compost so after a year it is really well broken down. The soil in the Apple patch has dropped over the years so a top dressing is in order. Whilst I was in the Apple patch I got the secateurs out and trimmed back side shoots on the minaret Apples. The Pear tree is in good order so did not need touching.

I went back into the greenhouse and swept away the cobwebs and swept down the tops then finally tidied and organised up the flower pots. I then set up the bench for the left side of the greenhouse. That will be in place until the seedlings are ready. That will be about the same time the Tomato plants will being sprouting fast. I selected the pots and tubs I needed and set about planting up, Elephants Garlic, Shallots, Purple Garlic and Meteor Peas.

A warm hug

It was H's birthday this weekend but the lottie does not stop. H went to collect Miss L from the train. I went to do the poo run. The contents of the trailer went into the middle section of the perimeter hedge. The trailer was dropped back to the stables but not before a had harvested some Leeks and Sprouts. It was a beautiful morning but H needed a hand getting the house ready for the party that evening but not before I picked up a wheelbarrow from Buildbase in Newall. It was to replace the one I had pinched a few months ago.

Sunday I got a little bit of time in the afternoon and my brother in law and I went to the lottie. I dropped off the wheelbarrow. I had a security cable going spare in the garage. I took it with me to secure the wheellbarrow in order to discourage anyone who tries piching it again. I took the secuateurs with me and trimmed up the grape vines. I also tidied up the torn areas of netting. It was a lovely day with the sun giving a warm hug to my back. It was a shame to come away but we had other things to do.

Fondant

Last week the snow stopped and the weather was a little warmer although not enough to melt the snow. I collected the new trailer an trundled over to the lottie. We at the lottie decided that we should look after the perimeter hedge by providing some manure to feed the border. I put Degsy in four wheel drive and trundled round the park to the border in question. I parked Degsy up, dropped the tailgate to find that the manure was frozen solid. I had to get the mattock out to break up the mass. Then it was just a matter of spreading the muck long the border. I had move Degsy and loosen the manure a couple of times before the trailer was empty.

After dropping Degsy back to the stable and having a chat to Angie & Chris I went over to the apiary. I was a bit disappointed to find the snow had disappeared completely. The sun was bright but the wind was bitter. I parked Degsy in the usual place. I did not put my bee gear on but put my hive tool in my trouser pockets and picked up the two blocks of fondant that I had had three goes at making. I wandered over to the hives. One colony had died out early in the winter but as I have previously reported I had expected that to happen. I put my ear to the hive and was happy to hear the hum of the colony. I looked in the front of the hive but there were no bees moving. That just meant they were tightly clustered. I stripped the hive down to the excluder. I put on an eke and then the fondant blocks. Then I reassembled the hive by putting a super back on then the crown board and roof as quick as I could without being rough. I re-tied the straps and stood back. The bees did not pile out of the hive so I figure I did the job smoothly and deftly and with luck they should be fine for now.

I checked the other hives for visitor but found nothing. The visitors I was looking for evidence of mice and wax moth. I looked around the site with a view to expanding it. The undergrowth had died back as far it would ever go so it gave a good idea of the structure of site. I wandered back to Degy stopping to have a look in the river. It was swollen with melt water but it still looked thick and dark. I got my Trangia out and made a brew. Whilst waiting for the kettle to boil and again when the brew was made I sat on my deck chair in the sun with my back to the wind. It was a bit surreal.It was the first time since Christmas where I had twenty minutes entirely to myself. Tea supped and blue ribbon bars scoffed I drove home.