Wild Camping In A Thunder Storm

I'd been on about going wild camping with a friend for ages. The idea being that we were only aloud to bring one bag of kit in, just what we could carry in one go. 

So this weekend we finally got round to doing it and it was great fun and a good test of gear and equipment,

Fermented Wild Garlic

With so much wild garlic ready for picking at the start of the month I wanted to properly take advantage of it this year. 

I looked online and in a few books to see what else could be done with this wild harvest. One idea that really got me curious was to ferment it. I've been wanted to try more fermented stuff and as I have a talk on preserving later in the year I thought that might make a useful bit of the talk! 

Not A Sheep Shearer!

When you keep sheep they're always at the back of your mind. Its a feeling I'd liken to when I was at school and you always had homework due, there always seems like something to do!

This time of year is no exception. Even after a good lambing there are still no end of things to think about.

New Play Area For The Kids

The kids love being outside at this time of year.

Crafts outside - painting money boxes!

This is great for me as it means I can get on with jobs outside whilst they flit between playing and helping me. They love playing in their Wendy house and have spent many happy hours in there, selling ice creams and being "mums and dads". 

At Christmas their grandparents (my wife's side) brought them a climbing frame. It's huge! I had no idea where I was going to put it up. Ideally it wanted to be somewhere I wasn't going to have to mow around (as I have no lawn mower at the moment) and near enough to the patio so if we have a BBQ we can still keep an eye on them. 

Jakoti Hand Shears Review

There are certain bits of farming I love and certain bits I hate. Dagging sheep is firmly in the "hate" camp but it's also a fairly essential job to do when it's needed! 

Dagging is the job of trimming around the sheep's bum to remove the muck that accumulates there. 

For years I've struggled with this job, using traditional "Double Bow" type shears. They never cut much, blunt too easily, hurt my hands (and my hands are fairly tough) and won't get through dried muck so you end up pulling that off first. Trouble is until you see something else you carry on with the way you were taught.

There must be an easier way...

A Day At Blists Hill Victorian Town

We decided to treat the kids to a day out this Bank Holiday weekend that we knew both my wife and I would enjoy! We'd both been to Blists Hill museum in the past, long before we had kids, when my wife was checking it out for a school visit.

The sun was shining and we hoped we'd be in for a good day.

How To Grow Squash To Save Seeds

Those that regularly read my blog will know that I'm somewhat in love with growing squash.

Some of last years winter squash harvest

Most years I grow huge numbers of the brilliant fruits and at least 10 varieties. I love the shapes and the colours, the different tastes and learning which ones grow and store well here. I've done this for many years now and have tried dozens of different squashes.

One thing I've yet to do is save the seed from them that would grow true. Squash are a very promiscuous veg and cross ridiculously easy with each other, with the numbers I was growing there was no way the seeds were going to stay pure by chance.