October Tour Of The Homestead

 A quick walk around the homestead, looking at what we've growing and harvesting. Also sneak peak at the area of the garden I'm giving over to growing wheat this year!

I also talk a bit about my business, and how things are going. 

Saving Sweetcorn Seeds

I'm being a bit naughty with my sweetcorn seed, as I'm going to save my own and really it should be from a bigger population. 

This is from about 40-45 plants and then only a few of them selected out. Really it should be from around 100 from what I've read. I've also read that if I don't intend to save from this lot every year then it should also be fine. 

It will help to save a bit of money (only about £7 if I bought two packets! but every little helps) and will mean I can plant a decent patch next year. 

Complete National Hive Build From Scratch

This is the whole video in one big long upload - all five parts totalling over 1 hour and 15 minutes! My longest video to date and me trying something new by combining old ones to make a longer one. 

It has the five parts - the base, the brood box, super and crown board, roof and hive stand! Plenty to go at and hopefully gives some quite clear instruction on how to do it. 

For me it was fun to make and I just hope some people find it useful. 

Dar Cucumber - Don't Bother

This year we tried a new (to us) variety of cucumber. I wanted a mini type that would be good for lunch boxes. This one was said to be great for small cucumbers, and would grow on a small plant. 

Not them in their best light - this is the end of the season and these would have been for seed saving had I thought they were worth saving.

They grew pretty well, making very compact plants. However the cucumbers didn't go down very well with the children, this was because they had bitter skins. 

I know I could have isolated the male flowers, but the plants were such a short tight compact mess that it was impossible. The children did eat them when peeled, but that hardly made them good for lunch boxes. 

Not one we'll be growing again. 

First Watermelon!

So I found a bit of an October treat in the "new" greenhouse last week - A Watermelon!

 I think that's the first that I've grown here. It's the variety "Siberian Lights" and although it wasn't huge, think about double the size of a cricket ball, it was super sweet and tasty. I cut it up and we all enjoyed a slice. 

I shoved these plants in late in the year really, and forgot about them. I honestly thought they were dead, shoved in behind the coriander, which somehow made finding them all the sweeter (if you'll excuse the pun).

I've saved the seeds from these and I'll be trying again next year. Our boy is trying to convince us that we should grow a whole greenhouse full of them! 

Who else grows watermelons?

Build A National Beehive From Scratch Part 4 - Roof & Paint Job

Part four of my build a beehive video series. This time it's looking at building a really simple flat roof and giving the whole hive a paint job using a traditional linseed oil paint. 

 

Only one more part to go - the hive stand! But I have also done a video where I talk about whether it's worth making your beehives from scratch or not. 

Adaptive Agriculture With Joseph Lofthouse & Oxton Organics Tour

Yesterday was such an inspiring day! 

I was lucky enough to get tickets to go to a day with Joseph Lofthouse, who has written the book Landrace Gardening -  Food security through biodiversity and promiscuous pollination. Although he has since used the term "adaptive agriculture" as one that maybe better catches what he is trying to achieve with it. 

Build A National Beehive From Scratch Part 3 - Supers and Crown Board

Third part of my build a beehive series of videos, this time building the supers and a crown board. 

 

Build a National Beehive From Scratch - Part 2 - Brood box

 The second in my video series on making a National Beehive from scratch. 

Making the brood box - this is where the queen lays her eggs and probably the most important part of the hive. It's essential to get it right! 

The strengthening bars in this are what make it tricky to make from scratch, I know other hives lend themselves much more to being made at home. I needed a full workshop of tools to make these quickly. 

It was still fun and rewarding though. 

Give it a watch and let me know what you think. 

Build a National Beehive From Scratch - Part 1 - Open Mesh Floor

 Since I started my bee keeping journey I really wanted to make a beehive from scratch. I'd already made one a few years ago - A Warre hive - but I wanted to make a national hive as they're what the club use and what I've decided to start with. 

Last week I managed to give myself the time to make a few hives up from scratch. It was good fun, but I have to admit that the National Hive is not an easy build. I learnt a bit through doing it though, and got to put my newly made router table through it's paces. 

I've split the build into 5 videos (I think so far) with part one being the building of a standard open varroa mesh floor. 

Part two will be out soon where I build a brood box, then super, then roof and crown board. I'll finish on building a folding hive stand for two hives. 

Watch the video - I hope you enjoy! 

A Weekend In Wales

A few weekends back my dad and me went to their house in Wales to start a big renovation job. 

The house has an old annex that they want to integrate with the rest of the house. 

Our job was to get stuff cleared before Dill the builder turned up. Wall down and gone! 

Dried Apple Time

Autumn always feel busy, the nights draw in, making the days feel shorter, yet somehow there is more to do than ever. 

I do love this gathering in of crops though. And I know the more energy I put in to it now, the more benefit we'll have for the rest of the year. 

Carved Chopping Boards - Wedding Presents

Last month we were lucky enough to be invited to two weddings, these were great fun and it seems an age since the last wedding we attended. 

 I'm never sure on what gift to get anyone for weddings, both were established couples, so not starting a home. So I decided I'd make some chopping boards and carve their name and date of the wedding on each, I also made a plain one for each couple as well so it was more of a set and one could have more everyday use. 

Carving letters like this is a nice way to personalise something, and this piece of oak had been in the shed for over 10 years I think, so about time it got used up. 

September Homestead Tour

Have a walk around the homestead with me, the garden is a mess, but the orchard is looking great! 

 Let me know what you think.