The start of this week was dry and sunny. With this my thoughts turned to water conservation. I believe this has been one of the driest springs on record in some areas. Scotland is rarely short of water, however one of our distilleries has had to shut down production because their water source is so low.
So we have been fixing water butts that had been leaking and are now empty, and connecting ones that had become disconnected. At the same time I started looking at our water use. I bought a four minute egg timer for the shower, but found there was no way I could manage a shower in that time. I then realised that the water only needs to be running to get wet and rinse off. By switching the water off in between times I have cut the showering time to under 2 minutes! that is a saving of 50 - 60 litres of water EACH a day, that is huge. I'm not sure how it will be in a colder bathroom in winter but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
I have also been planting and planting out his week. The sedums are in their beds, they are good in salads and the mallows are out as well. We tried rosebay willowhrb tips in fajitas on Friday they were good, but a bit woody if the stem was too long. They are reputed to have some positive effect on the prostate. Not seen the evidence for this but it would be nice for those who have a prostate!
I have also planted seeds from some of the perenials that failed in the spring, so some more rhubarb, mahonia aquifolium, butternut squash and a final sowing of peas in gutters. Outside I ahve planted some fennel and runner beans to climb up jerusalem artichokes. I also have french beans doing the same in a separate bed. Sadly the pumpkins that should have been covering the ground have been well and trully slugged. C'est la vie!
I am also proud to announce an impending birth, hopefully that of my first queen bee. I separated the two brood boxes with 3 supers of honey 10 days ago ad when I checked the top brood box (without the queen) there was one, unsealled queen cell. So fingers crossed in 11 days time we will have a new queen. I am really chuffed. The hive this queen cell has come from is still heaving with bees, brood, pollen and honey. The bees are great. The other hive, which has black bees, is much smaller and struggling so I think I may amalgamate the new queen with the black bees to make a stronger hive for the winter.
So we have been fixing water butts that had been leaking and are now empty, and connecting ones that had become disconnected. At the same time I started looking at our water use. I bought a four minute egg timer for the shower, but found there was no way I could manage a shower in that time. I then realised that the water only needs to be running to get wet and rinse off. By switching the water off in between times I have cut the showering time to under 2 minutes! that is a saving of 50 - 60 litres of water EACH a day, that is huge. I'm not sure how it will be in a colder bathroom in winter but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
I have also been planting and planting out his week. The sedums are in their beds, they are good in salads and the mallows are out as well. We tried rosebay willowhrb tips in fajitas on Friday they were good, but a bit woody if the stem was too long. They are reputed to have some positive effect on the prostate. Not seen the evidence for this but it would be nice for those who have a prostate!
I have also planted seeds from some of the perenials that failed in the spring, so some more rhubarb, mahonia aquifolium, butternut squash and a final sowing of peas in gutters. Outside I ahve planted some fennel and runner beans to climb up jerusalem artichokes. I also have french beans doing the same in a separate bed. Sadly the pumpkins that should have been covering the ground have been well and trully slugged. C'est la vie!
I am also proud to announce an impending birth, hopefully that of my first queen bee. I separated the two brood boxes with 3 supers of honey 10 days ago ad when I checked the top brood box (without the queen) there was one, unsealled queen cell. So fingers crossed in 11 days time we will have a new queen. I am really chuffed. The hive this queen cell has come from is still heaving with bees, brood, pollen and honey. The bees are great. The other hive, which has black bees, is much smaller and struggling so I think I may amalgamate the new queen with the black bees to make a stronger hive for the winter.
RSS Feed
