Alan Williams's Blog, page 58
May 1, 2016
Clearing the Compost Bin
It’s that time of the year for clearing out the last of the compost from the main bin on the allotment. I’ve been using this as I dig over the beds, and plant potatoes. It’s mostly last years cleared plants with a little horse manure and other things that will compost well. I have two bins, one that’s “cooking” and one that I’m adding to in the current year. Next spring the one that’s “cooking” will become the one I use for adding to beds as I dig them.
While I was working, a pair of Robins k...
April 29, 2016
Planting Leeks
I went down to the allotment this morning to plant out some leeks. I’ve recorded a little video, see below, because I thought it might be useful to someone. As with many things, this is just the method I use and there may well be other better methods.
While I was there I took an opportunity to weed the brassica bed. It wasn’t too bad but it felt good to be on top of weeding that area. There’s a little slug damage to some of the plants, but otherwise they seem to be doing well, so hopefully we...
April 27, 2016
Symbols From The Allotment
There are symbolic things that happen on the allotment each year. They mark a particular moment in the growing season, a point at which you know you’ve reached the same point as a previous year, even though the exact date might be different. I suppose in many ways this is a kind of almanac.
This last weekend saw the final harvest of the purple sprouting broccoli from the plot. It’s been especially good this year, and has given us many meals of homegrown veg, at a time when our supplies are gr...
April 26, 2016
Quick Links 26th April 2016
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Ten years after ‘hug a husky’, what is David Cameron’s green legacy? [The Guardian]
Ministers back down on rule ‘gagging’ scientists [The Guardian]
The environment photographers you should be following on Instagram [The Guardian]
UK taxpayers handed Shell $123m in 2015 [Carbon Brief]
April 25, 2016
Is Brexit The Nuclear Option?
This post first appeared on my LinkedIn Page.
Artist Impression of Hinkley Point C: EDF Energy/PA
The UK is full of talk of Brexit and what it might mean for the Country if the public vote to leave the EU at the referendum vote on June 23rd. There are many statistics and arguments being given on both sides. One of the other pieces of news that I’ve been following is Hinkley Point C.
The new nuclear power station that is a combination of British government, the Chinese, the energy company EDF,...
April 19, 2016
Quick Links 19th April 2016
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
How To Make A Bumblebee Nest Box
The Week In Wildlife – In pictures [The Guardian]
France gives go ahead to Hinkley Point, French minister says [The Guardian]
From Africa to Somerset – sand martins lead the way [The Guardian]
April 13, 2016
Sowing Seeds
It’s that time of the year, when spring is arriving and the ground is warming up and it’s time to sow some seeds directly on the allotment. I thought it might be useful to share the method that I use. It works for me, on my allotment, but there are other hints and tips, and some seeds need to be sown in other ways, but generally speaking for pretty much everything that I sow from seed directly into the ground this is the method that I use. Last weekend I sowed parsnip, turnip and radish. Let...
April 12, 2016
Quick Links 12th April 2016
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Scrapping Hinkley for renewable alternatives will save ‘tens of billions’ [The Guardian]
10 ways ‘negative emissions’ could slow climate change [Carbon Brief]
The Week In Wildlife – In Pictures [The Guardian]
Reducing food waste would mitigate climate change, study shows [The Guardian]
April 7, 2016
Oak:Ash Vs. Ash:Oak
There’s an old saying that goes something like:
“If the Oak before the ash, then we’ll only have a splash, if the ash before the Oak then we’ll surely have a soak”
This refers to the the amount of rainfall we’re going to get in the following summer, based on which species comes into leaf first in the spring.
Whilst there isn’t any scientific evidence to support this statement, I did notice this morning that the Oak trees aroundme are definitely ahead, and buds have already burst, whereas on...
April 6, 2016
Allotment Updates
A couple of videos from last week on the Allotment.
