Saturday 28 January 2012

Apicentric Beekeeping

Most people are aware that our honey bees have undergone a significant decline in the past decade, and many factors have been attributed to this. I have had my own bees since April 2009 and was taught the 'traditional' method of hive management, namely, that the beekeeper knows best and needs to manipulate the bees' behaviour in order to produce the maximum amount of honey. I'm not saying that conventional beekeeping techniques harm the bees directly or that their owners don't care, but as with many commercial farming practises, it has taken its toll on the health of the organisms concerned.

The Natural Beekeeping Trust are endeavouring to change this approach, and today I went to an event at their Bee Classroom in Ashurst Wood, Sussex to find out about the different hive systems that can be used. I currently use a National which is a square box full of frames that can be inspected and harvested effeciently and easily, but it is not necessarily the conditions that the bees would choose to live in!

We looked at a number of different hives:

Einraumbeute or One Room Hive

Top Bar Hive

Warre Hive (sitting atop a painted National!)


The new Sun Hive
It was really interesting and a lot of emphasis was made on how the bees work very hard to maintain a temperature of 38 degrees C (as do mammals) within the hive, and our opening them up on a regular basis does much to disrupt this. It also introduces spores and other nasties to what should essentially be a sealed unit - sealed by the bees that is with a substance called propolis, which acts as an antimicrobial and anti-fungal glue to patch up any holes and pockets where infection could enter and to keep light and draughts out. Bees naturally nest high up in trees and in bringing them down to our level exposes them to cold and moisture from the ground that they would not normally have to deal with. This is before other 'essential' beekeeping measures have taken place; I will be spending a lot more time observing my bees and enabling them to express their natural instincts rather than diving in to the hive every week thinking I know what they should be doing...

The trustees who took the course were very inspirational and I would urge anyone reading my blog to try to make sure they purchase local, ethically produced honey, preferably early in the season so the bees have a chance to recoup their stores before winter, as standard practice is to strip the hive of honey in late summer and feed the bees sugar syrup to replenish their supplies. I don't think this is fair! I always leave enough honey for them to overwinter with and although I do sell the honey from my hives, I keep a decent amount back to ensure that I can feed them their own honey (slightly diluted) should the need arise. Such honey does command a higher price, but you will be supporting a sustainable and vitally important process: investing in bee colonies that will be provided with the resources to live long, productive and healthy lives.

I do hope my colonies make it through the winter as I am keen to see how they fare on less intervention over the summer. I will have to wait a few more months before they get going, and that depends on their Varroa load which unfortunately is high. Fingers crossed I will have some bees to watch come April.

Thursday 26 January 2012

Egg-citement

I discovered an egg in Joanna and Llywelyn's run today, so the day length is now officially long enough to stimulate call duck egg production :-) It's my first duck egg so I was really pleased. She laid it right on the mud rather than in the house but it scrubbed up alright once I'd armed myself with a damp paper towel:

Peggy egg for scale
Before you ask, no, I won't be hatching any, unless by some miracle either Jean or Joanna decides to go broody which they are not known for! They can be incubated under a hen (or indeed in an incubator) but I'd rather keep it natural. A shame though, as ducklings are the most impossibly cute little things in the world. I will try to sell some as hatching eggs though as call ducks are quite popular due to their diminutive size.

I've rearranged all the poultry pens to give them a change of scenery, and this prompted me to then tidy up my sewing box as I'd found a load of compartmentalised trays in the garden (?) so again, having washed the mud and hen footprints off them, Rosie helped me sort out my button and thread stash:


As you can see, the heated airer provides a very useful surface on which to rest things - this is why I can't have an ironing board, as it just gets colonised by random stuff. I also got started on a project using this Rowan Kidsilk Haze yarn:


I love the green, and it's working really well. Another thing that is working is the welly rack (sorry, the pic's a bit overexposed but the sunshine must've shocked my camera):


This evening I am going to sort out my seeds in to chronological sowing order and also stick my new biodynamic charts at the front of each month's divider. Biodynamic gardening is new to me (although I have heard of it in the agricultural context) but I'm going to a biodynamic beekeeping event this weekend and I find the whole concept quite intriguing.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

It's been raining today and very grey - I find it difficult to get going with the weather like this, although it is also the time of year; the urge to hibernate is very strong...

The ducks are happy though, and have been rootling about in the muddy grass finding all sorts of unsuspecting invertebrates - they particularly like the manure I put at the base of the apple trees, (ugh) but also the grass around the greenhouse which is more photogenic:


We've worked out that the chick called Hazel is the cockerel, and the two others are hens. The boy has much bigger wattles and comb compared to his nest-mates. Hazel is now Wilbur, and the three of them have been separated from Henry (as he has rather an unhealthy interest in the pullets and keeps picking on his son). I am waiting to hear from my friend Joss as to whether she can take Henry - if not, the chicks can stay as a trio.

Wilbur and Pippa
 The hens don't enjoy the rain but yesterday they enjoyed a communal groom and snooze on the bench:


I was out in the garden yesterday too - I cleaned up the cobwebs in the outside toilet, although the chickens have a habit of appropriating it. Ida keeps laying eggs on a pile of old papers and Henry finds the dark corners irresistable for a secret trysting spot. He goes in there and makes a very soft, purringly seductive bok-bok noise and the hens fall for it every time, so we call it his Lavatory of Lurve...

I am trying to reorganise my boot room which is the smallest space in the house yet is the most congested, as it is also our main house entrance. I decided a welly rack would free up a bit of space and had seen some lovely ones from Wilderness Wood, but at £39 I thought I could do it myself for free given I had a bit of pallet and some broom handles. Dad gave me some tips and - voila!



It's sturdier than it looks, honest. Home education today has consisted Biology GCSE with Tristan, although it was all about classification and frankly rather out of date as it had birds as a separate group to reptiles which got on my nerves, but did give me a chance to revisit some of my OU Evolution course knowledge! Amber and Rose have been surprisingly harmonious and working together on all sorts of things.

I made some bread, with one third stoneground spelt flour and the rest organic white. It gives a lovely nutty flavour which I find tastier than wholemeal. I also use a mixture of raw organic milk and molasses as the liquid, and Doves Farm yeast, so I'm guessing it's a pretty healthy loaf! The children prefer it to plastic bread which I feel is quite an astounding achievement:


My spider plant (or Chlorophytum comosum as I learnt today) has had lots of babies so I have clipped them off and popped them in to a shallow dish of water:


I can thoroughly recommend the book, which is full of instructions for everything you could ever wish to divide, graft, sow and take cuttings from. I also repotted and planted up the babies of my aloes too:


I love the generosity of plants when it comes to regenerating, although I get a heartsink moment when it says a particular species takes a year to germinate or 7 years to flower, as I am rather forgetful and I have my doubts as to the prospects of such plants in my care: "Oh look a seed tray full of old compost with a faded label...nah, don't need that..."

I went back for an anaemia-related doctor's appointment this morning and I had the usual 40-minute long wait so the sock is coming along well:

Monday 23 January 2012

Craft update

I've been quite busy with various little crafting projects - like the bee stitch knitted jacket for my one-cup cafetiere:



I also knitted a little bee skep with attached felt bees. I had made an egg cosy in the same design but then gave one to a friend who said it was so nice he'd keep it on his desk as an ornament...so...



I might make a couple more to sell on the stall later in the year. I have also been doing some embroidery on my knitting needle case, which I need to finish as my knitting needles are strewn all over the floor. I wanted to do some flowers and foliage but so far I have done a sweet briar rose:


Nicky came over yesterday for a much-needed CCG crafting session, and she showed me needle felting, button-making and other such inspirational stuff. We made some lavender bags with dried lavender from my parent's garden:



The top one is for Rosie as it's made with the fabric she chose, and the bottom one is for my mum as it'll match the quilt I made for them ages ago. I've also been beetling away with my granny squares:


I've got a way to go before it's finished. I'm tempted to do a really big square in the middle and little ones round the edge but I'll see. I've also had an idea about doing a picture of Henry the cockerel in either needle felting or embroidery. He's so colourful and magnificent, I'll keep an eye out for his colours in threads or combed tops!

I've tried to do some home-ed with the children but as we all seem to be a bit out of sorts and getting on each other's nerves I have declared today an inset day! It's always tricky the day after their dad weekend so discretion being the better part of valour, I'll concentrate on some gentle activities to regain some harmony.

Friday 20 January 2012

A Day Out

The forecast was gloomy and drizzly, and as I couldn't think of anything else to do with the children, we popped up to London. It's one of the things I love about where I live in Sussex - I'm living in an ex-farmworker's cottage on the edge of fields yet only an hour or so away is lovely London, which I must say, on a mild January day is remarkably pleasant. We arrived at Victoria having dropped the dog with my parents, and walked up past Buckingham Palace:


We managed to time it, by a complete fluke, to coincide with the horses also walking past:


The girls were enchanted :-)

It was then a walk up through Green Park to Piccadilly:


I only properly noticed the bark of plane trees when I was up in London last time, but it's quite spectacular:


And (not that you can see them in this picture) the daffodils were poking up through the grass...I should think it'll look gorgeous in a few week's time:



I had little success with food for the children at Victoria Station, as I had been banking on filling them up with Ixxy's bagels who seem to have disappeared, so it was a bit of an exercise to get something inside them before the whole visit spiralled downwards into disaster due to low blood sugar and slight thirst. They have extremely Catholic taste when it comes to food and trying to find a sandwich without mayo or heavens! tomato! is always a problem. Luckily Costa came to my rescue and after bacon sandwiches and a very large coffee for me, we headed to Waterstone's.

I have had to postpone my degree studies for now due to lack of time and headspace, and need to focus on the children and their studies. I'm ok with this decision, as the reason I was taking a geosciences degree was because I'd given up science at age 14, and was frankly embarrassed by my lack of knowledge, and thought that if the children were going to be home-educated, the least I could do was gain a rudimentary grasp of things like electricity, atoms and chemistry. But I did really enjoy it and miss having something to take my mind off all the other things to worry about as I've discovered that I can knit/crochet and fret at the same time. In fact, I can pretty much fret while I do anything, so I thought I should get some inspiration for something a bit meatier, and I always find bookshops a good place to start.

I got a sewing book which has all the basics about any sort of stitch, hem, alteration, embellishment I could ever want and, joy of joys - a sewing machine troubleshooting guide...I think mine needs oiling! I also got a book on keeping ducks and geese, as I'd love to have a goose or two if I ever live somewhere with enough grass. It also had really cute pictures of ducklings and goslings. So, not exactly meaty stuff but it did get the old brain cogs stirring again and I could have bought loads of books about bees, which I think could become something for me to get my teeth in to as there are so many new methods and areas of research, plus I do own and work with bees so it would be very relevant. So, apart from Tristan being extraordinarily grumpy at the enforced company of his sisters all day (not in the least assuaged by a new Bernard Cornwell book) I think it was quite a success :-)

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Wildlife Nightlife

I didn't sleep terribly well last night. As I was watching Stargazing Live, I could hear a vixen screaming outside, and she was very close. I let Scruff out for his pre-bed comfort break and he tore off down the garden barking, which continued up the track...and across the field...I think Miss Foxy got more than she bargained for! Anyway, I kept waking up for - apparently - no reason, except whenever I tried to get back to sleep, I could hear the bloomin' vixen yelling her head off outside my bedroom window. She wasn't outside my bedroom window, but it sounded like she was.

If you've never heard a fox belting out her come-hither yowls in the middle of the night, I can tell you it is one of the most unpleasant, unworldly, discomforting sounds there is; once I've clocked what it is, I can tell it's too high pitched to be human, but momentarily, especially with the disadvantage of being half asleep, it sounds like a small infant is being cruelly and persistently tortured. I did go to the landing window and saw her trot up the garden so my already jangled nerves suddenly panicked that the ducks or hens weren't shut in properly, necessitating a hurried trip down the stairs (and if you saw what was on my stairs then 'trip' is just the word) and out to check the poultry. They were fine, of course, and it did give me a chance to spot the 3am stars that had been brought to my attention during the tv programme while I waited for Scruff to come back from his second trip up the track and the field...

Soooo, today I have felt a bit tired, but I have done some knitting and some bee stuff and some work with the children. I went to the farm where I beekeep yesterday, and brought some work home to do:


I have invested in a blowtorch, as the inner surfaces need to be scorched to sterilise them. It's lovely, as the smell of lightly toasted cedar wood with a hint of beeswax and honey is divine. Ann also gave me some money that I had forgotten she owed me, and a pot of honey. I'll start back there once the season kicks off in February/March, weather depending. Unfortunately I won't be able to take Amber with me for the foreseeable future as Ann has got a 10 week old Jack Russell puppy called Sybil and I would not hear the end of it, as things like 'breach of tenancy agreement' and 'money' and 'it would savage your rabbits' and 'we already have a dog' seem to be of little consequence to my dear daughter. Don't know where she gets it from ;-)

Knitting-wise I have cast on Sweet Pea sock number 2, and have already done the boring 1x1 rib bit. I finished the cafetiere cosy:



I was quite pleased and look! - I stuck to my original plan! I am currently knitting another one for my smaller cafetiere, in a dropped stitch pattern called bee stitch. I'm a bit obsessed with all things apian and the moment.

I washed the kitchen floor yesterday, and wiped down the cupboards, although if I find whoever it was who invented grooves in kitchen cupboard doors I am going to make him come along with a toothbrush and he can jolly well get all the gunk out of them. And today I cleaned my Kitchen Aid mixer...I can't say I'm not concerned about such spontaneous acts of gratuitous housework - I blame the increase in daylength!

Sunday 15 January 2012

Stitches

I pruned the apple trees yesterday, as I finally found a no-nonsense article about how to go about it, so, having armed myself with secateurs and pruning saw, I trimmed off everything that pinged out from a fruit spur and took all the top growth back to an outward-facing bud:



As I've been in all day, the poultry have all had a good wing-stretch outside their respective runs. The white ducks enjoyed a snooze in the sun:



The mallards enjoyed their tub of cold water:



I have cast on 54 stitches in the Shetland aran wool as I want to make a cafetiere cosy. I always seem to end up finding the perfect pattern in all but one aspect so I have to adapt it, does everyone find this to be the case?? Anyway, this will hopefully be a simple stocking stitch-and-cabling one with 2x2 rib at top and bottom...watch this space and don't hold me to that design!


This is another little project, more on that when I've finished it:


I can knit other things now as I have finished the pair of gumboot socks!!


I love them! They are really warm and comfortable and I am amazed that I actually managed to knit them. I might keep them as bed socks as they are far too gorgeous to be trudged around in wellies. The Sweet Pea sock is complete too, except it obviously needs a friend, which I will cast on before I lose the momentum...


Unfortunately the nicest bit (as far as I'm concerned) is the stripy bit which happens to be on the sole, but I can see me wearing these as summer bed socks!!


I must must must get on with some crochet squares for the Sissinghurst hot garden blanket but I'm thinking of teaching Amber how to do them, as they are not very taxing. I might do some when I've cracked on a bit with the other things. Luckily I vacuumed the landing and cleaned the bathroom in a moment of inspiration so can get back to the important stuff...

Thursday 12 January 2012

Gardening and Knitting :-)

Yesterday was 'one of those days' so I ensured that today involved some horticultural therapy: I took some hardwood and root cuttings from my rosemary and oregano plants respectively, and a couple of sage cuttings too. My fellow Country Craft Guild member Nicky had been speaking about her garden and we got on to discussing herbs, which reminded me how much I love them; they're great pollinator plants, hardy, beautiful in an overlooked and understated way and respond well to propagation - and that's before the medicinal/culinary uses. Rose helped me, as part of her horticultural training, (and also because WWIII was about to break out between her and Amber over some minor incident):


I've put them into 3" pots with gritty compost and placed them in the greenhouse so hopefully they'll take and reward me with a few new plants :-)

On the sock front, things are progressing well:


The sweet pea yarn is beautiful to work with, and I am aware it looks like something the dog's got hold of but I'm actually about to knit the instep, which won't take long as it's only 20 something stitches. I'm using a pattern Nicky gave me, and so far, it is all making sense! The gumboot sock is fantastic, and I am debating on whether to get some shortie Hunter wellies to show them off but I'm not a great fan of Hunters as I've had so many pairs that have split on the sole...I'm more of an Aigle gal these days.

Tristan has gone to his friend's this afternoon so after doing some physics with him, checking his handwriting exercise, and packing him off to Joel's I was able to do some history with Rose about Hannibal and his elephants, as part of Susan Wise-Bauer's brilliant History of the World curriculum. Amber joined in too so that was nice. Amber has learnt how to make chocolate brownies (essential education) although there is still a requirement for the Clearing Up Fairy and her trusty sidekick, Dishwasher, to be on hand afterwards but hey, I shouldn't complain. Tristan said yesterday he wanted to become less fussy about eating, so I suggested he helped me make bolognese sauce which he struggles with, as it might engage him a bit if he'd made it. He didn't get on very well with onion chopping (tears/scary sharp knife) and baulked at handling raw mince (blood/feels slimy) but he did manage to open the tin of tomatoes, although I had to get the lid off in case he got tomato on his newly washed favourite jumper. Hmm, didn't quite pick the baton as I'd hoped but anyway, I'll try something less complex next time like um, toast....

Monday 9 January 2012

New Year Part II

Having had a pleasant weekend, where we went to see Sherlock at the cinema (and I whimpered and gulped my way throughout the 4 minute trailer for Warhorse), today was the start of our 'term', for want of a better expression. I spent the morning with the girls: I sent Amber off to research large fowl, hybrids and bantams, and Rose and I looked at different types of flowers as part of her floristry training. Then I set Rosie to work making a collage of flower types while Amber showed me her findings about Cochins, Rosecombs and Amber Stars. She then helped me squirt Henry's legs as he has scaly leg...he wasn't best pleased.

R makes good use of my old copies of
Gardeners' World
He loathes being cuddled
Tristan spent the morning doing his own thing, but after lunch and a bit of enforced quiet time so I had a half hour break from "Mum!-Mum?-Mum!?-Mum!!" I did some of T's Biology GCSE textbook with him. It was all about obesity and cholesterol and hypertension but after a discussion which ended up with talking about the economic and environmental implications of industrial fishing techniques, we managed to answer the extremely dull revision questions where the emphasis was 'this is really boring but you've just got to learn it for the exam' - arghghghgh!! Anyway, as long as I've got through to him that packet meals and processed food are not a good way to eat for a whole load of reasons, I'll be happy! I am thinking more and more that their education needs to revolve around awareness and sustainability (in everything) rather than working towards unrealistic and unsustainable goals and achievements. I heard a radio programme where they were pointing out that we always want better for our children, but perhaps encouraging them to aim for attainable and fulfilling is a better approach.

The second gumboot sock is going well; I'm on to the cabling now. I won't post a picture as, reassuringly, it looks exactly like the other one :-)

The chicks have learnt to go out into the field - rather a dubious skill but it does them good to forage. The white ducks have found the hole in the fence too actually, they definitely have more wanderlust than the mallards. As the chicks are roosting with the big hens now, I Poultry Shield-ed the other ark so the bunbuns will be able to go back in there once the grass starts growing again. I have decided against getting any more hybrids for now, until I'm sure whether the chicks are boys or gals. My friend Joss has suggested she borrows Henry if the chicks are all female so she can incubate some eggs...that would be quite a holiday for him - sort of Club 18-30 for poultry.

Handsome Henry

Preening call ducks
I have been keeping my eggshells and cooking them if I've got space in the oven, or in the residual heat after something has finished, as I want to try them as a slug deterrent. Baking them makes them easier to crush and also renders them less desirable for Mr and Mrs Rat and all their millions of babies.


I've sprinkled them over everything in my cold frame...

We have high pressure over us at the moment which is lovely as it is finally dry. My house is like a sponge and clings on to every scrap of moisture so it can cultivate some more mould, so apologies to all those farmers in East Anglia who are still struggling with drought but frankly I can cope with a lot of things if it ain't raining! I even hung my duvet cover out to dry today; it's not exactly crispy but it's taken the worst off and means I can put it straight in the airing cupboard rather than having it festoon my bedroom.

An evening of knitting and reading my digital version of HomeFarmer magazine awaits...

Friday 6 January 2012

Purchases

I'm going well with the gumboot sock:


I must remember I will need to knit another one...

Having dropped the children at home-ed group this morning I popped to Furniture Now, who take donated furniture and mend/fix/store it and sell it on to the public, with discounts for unwaged people such as myself. I really needed something bookcase-y for my room, as well as a desk for Tristan and maybe a small table for the study so I can help the children with their studies rather than use the big table in the lounge for everything. I drew a blank on the desk and forgot my cheque book so couldn't get a table but I did find something for my room:


It fits well and has enough room for what I need it for. I've brought a chair up from the lounge so I can sit in my room [and escape] so I'll see if that helps.

When I got back from Shinies I had a parcel; my new iPad case from Melin Tregwynt! :-)


It's quite big so possibly more designed for a netbook but I love it and it's got a neoprene backing so it's both classy and protective. I'm trying not to look at the rest of the catalogue.

The weather's been great today, and I cleaned out all the hens while they had a run in the garden. The chicks are getting on ok with the older hens now and Henry can't pick on all 3 of them at once, so apart from the odd squawk, they all hang out fairly happily. Hopefully they'll be able to go in with them permanently soon as it will reduce the amount of bedding and cleaning out, plus it will keep the babies warm as they all tend to huddle in the nestbox at the moment.

It's the weekend! Yey! No plans - double yey!