Buzzing about

Had a few new arrivals on Friday night – hundreds (possibly thousands, but probably not yet) of honey bees.

Having spent last year reading up and learning from my mentor, I finally got my own hive. Brought them home in the back of the Landie (only 3 escapees) and left them to it in their new home.

Went to inspect them today and all appears to be well – Queen, brood, eggs, food and of course bees, all present and correct. Some were bringing in gorse pollen, but we’ve had a cold morning, so I was quite surprised at that. Given a bit of warmth (that we’re not forcast), I’ll be able to put a super on soon for my very first honey crop.

A very exciting time.

EU sees sense shock…

…well almost!

Yesterday, the EU finally had the sense to scrap MOST of the utterly stupid and pointless regulations it decided we must live by regarding the size and shape of our fruit and veg.

I’m talking about rules like:
Class I cucumbers must “be reasonably well shaped and practically straight (maximum height of the arc: 10 mm per 10 cm of the length of cucumber)”. Class II “slightly crooked cucumbers may have a maximum height of the arc of 20 mm per 10 cm of length of the cucumber”.

Will they not taste as good or be less nutritious if they’re bent at a right angle? No!

More info can be found here.

Right, I’m off to eat a wonky homegrown carrot – just like I have been for years.

A new Beaufort?

While out walking the mutt this morning, I was assulted by the weather.

As well as getting snowed on I was getting buffeted around by the wind, which got me thinking about the Beaufort Scale. As I was trying to remember the visual clues to wind speed (Force 0 = smoke rises vertically, Force 1= smoke drifts, Force 2 = leaves rustle etc) I emerged from behind the (unknown) shelter of a copse to be nearly blown off my feet.

This got me thinking, maybe there should be a modernisation of the Beaufort Scale? Something “people in the steet” could relate to (yes, dumbing down if you like, but it could be fun and kept me amused almost all the way home). For example, at what force do trousers get plastered to your legs? So here are a few suggestions, along with appropriate action plans:

Force 4 – long hair annoyingly tickles your nose – tie hair back
Force 7 – trousers are plastered to your legs – don’t wear baggy pants
Force 8 – small dogs take off – hold tight to lead and pretend you have a kite
Force 10 – people blown off their feet – acquire large dog, lay flat on ground and use dog as an anchor

It’s incomplete, but a start.

1st of Autumn

It’s easy for people to believe the seasons begin on certain dates – that fits nicely with the calendar (whatever calendar it is you use). Generally speaking though, nature has it’s own calendar – every changing, different from one year to the next.

That’s the reason some years one crop will have a good yeild and the next it won’t – it’s not all down to sowing dates and location. It’s the reason people complain about a bad summer (meaning too wet) or a bad winter (also meaning too wet and usually not cold enough).

But for me, each season has it’s own feel – unquantifyable elements that can be detected by our senses, but probably not by scientific equipment. A certain smell, the feel of the air on your skin, the way your tea tastes (especially noticable if drunk outside). Daft I know, but true.

The most noticable of those changes is Autumn (although Spring has a definate….). Today, for me, is the first day of Autumn. The smell – probably made up of enough decaying fungi and the first fallen leaves – is heavy in the cold, damp air. There’s a heavy dew and a very pronounced chill that takes a while to shake off. The shadows are long and the morning light’s taken on a golden hue.

This is Autumn and it feels good – kind of cosy. Time to start hoarding for winter.

And the result?

The plastic challenge I talked about last has now come to an end. The conclusion can be read here.

It’s a real mixed bag for me. In some ways it appears she can’t be bothered with the extra effort required. And why was she doing it? Because it’s trendy to be green? Because the BBC was likely to buy that kind of article from her? Maybe, judging by her comments.

It does however highlight an issue that I’ve ranted about before – sustainability. I’m a big fan of the “softly, softly” approach – a little and often. If you try and do it all at once you’re setting yourself up for a fall. However, if you change a couple of things – take your own bags shopping, don’t overpackage stuff when you don’t need to (do bananas really need to go in a bag of their own?), use your own mug at work – it can make a difference and in the long run, you’re more likely to succeed, thus it’s sustainable.