Saturday 14 May 2011

Why is it that...

...when you have no time it always seems that there is so much to do?

(First of all, this post was scheduled to go out on Thursday but due to the fracas with blogger at the moment it is only just going out now. So it's not that I haven't been trying to post, but blogspot has not been working worldwide. If you left me a comment then all comments left have been temporarily deleted by blogger for maintenance purposes, they are supposedly restoring them all over the weekend..)

Anyway.. I'm writing this now surrounded by piles of notes, random books, chewed pens, highlighters, post it notes.. all of that jazz that goes with studying.

On Tuesday I took some respite from revision and went to Evesham Country Park to see what was on offer. We came back with quite a haul of stuff from both there and the nursery in Alcester..



We bought a load of seeds that were on special offer, stocking up particularly on herb seeds (for Amy's Mum's herb garden) and peas and beans which I hope to have a continuous crop of until October time.

I also bought some more fruit plants. There were 6 raspberry canes on special offer at less than half price, we also bought a rhubarb crown so that we can try and grow it in a pot which apparently is very possible and reccomended these days. Traditionally rhubarb would take over your veg patch if you gave it the chance. But by restricting the roots growth and using homemade organic liquid fertilizers as opposed to an abundance of rotting manure, a small crop can be easily obtained from growing in a pot. In the past I have had a bash at growing melons, but with no success. Small fruits about the size of a pea established but then died before further progression. Not one to quit easily, we bought a melon plant and it is now in a grow bag with two more tomato plants.

I checked on the bees yesterday very quickly. It seems like they have built up some stores for themselves which is considerably more than they previously had. I did think that I might have to feed them fondant or syrup in the short term, but they are looking at their healthiest so far which is great. They still haven't moved up in to the super yet, but it is only a small colony. I've been in contact with the local bee inspector and hopefully he will be out soon to make sure everything is ok.
I really wanted to take some pictures of the bees, but using a camera whilst bee-keeping is quite difficult. It would be nice to show you a brood frame or two but the frames can get very heavy and they really are best supported by two hands rather than balacing both it and the camera.
I got stung for the first time since we have had them yesterday, on my foot! Which is definately a first! My own fault though for wearing in appropriate footwear.

Well, it has been nice writing this post but back to revision I go! I will try to get all the scheduled posts out as soon as possible, but blogspot is definately being very tempremental!
Fingers crossed that everything works ok!

Have a good day!

Martin

3 comments:

  1. Ouch! That hurts! I used to get stung on my feet by bees because I went barefoot all summer and would step on them in the grass. I guess they were getting pollen from the wild flowers. I am amazed by all the things you are doing and look forward to seeing and learning from your efforts. Have fun!

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  2. Hi! I finally visited :) Great Blog and so interesting to hear all that you are up to.
    What a Treasure Trove of stuff! Well worth taking a rest from revision! Good luck with it all. Mo

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  3. Thanks for popping by Mo, I love your blog. Great pictures of the pigs in todays post! :0

    Hi Callie, getting stung is not fun at all! Thanks for popping by too! I really appreciate all the support from my publicised and non-publicised followers!

    Have a good week!

    Martin :)

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