I think that it is very important to make friends when you aim to be more sustainable or self-sufficient. It is not always possible to do everything yourself, and you may at times need to rely on others but that is ok, because they will rely on you aswell.
This year I found it difficult to get all the seeds and plants ready for the growing season on the allotment due to exam commitments and just a general lack of time, however I came across a lovely lady who I happen to work with who did it for me. She gave me about 10 pepper plants, (all varieties) which was completly unexpected, but in the world of trying to 'grow your own' you will find that many people will happily do these sort of things for you. I try to think that I am kind enough to do this sort of thing too. I have often given people on the allotment bits and bobs such as pots and plants when they needed them and similarly they have done the same for me. The lady who gave me the peppers promptly recieved a box of fresh eggs from the chickens.
The world of 'Grow Your Own' is full of friendly people, it is not uncommon to recieve stuff for free in these sorts of communitys, especially if you are a beginner. But remember this should be a two way thing. If you get something try to give something back, if you give something but don't recieve something back then it's the thought that counts, I think they call it Karma.
Just remember to treat people as you would wish to be treated, people like this are there to help you and ensure you are successful, you should be greatful of their efforts.
Martin
At long last I am the proud owner of several thousand honey bees. I spent Monday excitedly making several hive parts ready for the arrival of a nucleus of bees (queen, brood frames and bees). It took my father and I several hours to make all of the frames, 40 in total (10 brood frames, 30 super frames). There were lots of little bits and it was quite fiddly, it's one of those things that traditional beekeepers expect you to see once and then remember forever, but unfortunately that was not the case, and I did forget how to make them, it took a lot of searching on the internet to find a reliable set of instructions equipped with pictures, I intend to make a guide on this blog in the near future so that other new beekeepers do not have the same problems as I did.
The hive itself arrived on Monday morning, it was fully assembled with a galvanized steel roof to make it weather proof, to add to the hives defences against the elements it is also coated in cuprinol. The hive consists of 3 supers (boxes where honey is made and stored) and 1 broodbox (where the queen lays eggs and rears young). The cost of hives varies all over the beekeeping world, it is not common to pick up a good condition second hand hive for less than £80, some people get a brand new hive, yet unassembled for about £100, but my friend Lesley discovered a trader on ebay who was selling fully assembled hives at £86.50 with a £20 delivery fee, apparently it is much easier to buy an assembled hive as unassembled hives usually arrive as piles of wood without instructions!
So when the hive, equipped with frames was complete, my dad and I took the hive to the orchard in Arrow which I am keeping my bees on, I have made an agreement to keep them on his land and they will hopefully polenate his orchard and other crops, he has also shown an interest in buying the wax from me, which is great! I am sure he will recieve several complimentary jars of honey over the years..
The land owner had already thought of a spot to keep the hive on, and to be honest, despite looking around I think he got the right spot. It is perfect, trees provide some shelter, but the abundance of flowers and crops is never-ending so there will be plenty of pollen for the bees to collect. The view is great aswell, and on a nice day I can imagine myself spending a lot of time at the apiary. The apiary is about 5 minutes from my home via car, but it takes about half an hour to cycle there as it is a gradual rising hill.
The bees were provided, free of charge, by the Stratford Upon Avon Beekeepers Association. They had raised a nucleus with laying queen for me at the association apiary and this was then given to David Titcomb to nurture for me until I collected them. David's honey is available in many shops around the local area and he has lots of hives, each one with an exciting story or project behind it. David opened up the nucleus hive, and swapped the frames from my broodbox with the frames from the nucleus which were full of eggs, larvae and capped brood, and most importanty it had a queen on the frame somewhere. There are lots of bees already with the hive and there should be several thousand in there, maybe even 20,000 bees. I spent a long time at David's learning about breeding projects and his other methods of general beekeeping, much to the annoyance of my Dad and friend who were waiting in the car for me to arrive with a box full of bees.
The time was getting on, and we took the broodbox back to the rest of the hive at The Orchard. I didn't use a smoker but, the bees were obviously quite angry, so I opened up the entrance and they came out at their own will.
Hopefully we'll have some honey this year, I don't expect much simply because it is very late on in the year to start beekeeping, but the weather earlier in the year was so bad that it delayed all breeding schedules and there is also the fact that many colonies were lost over the winter, so there were simply not enough bees to go round.
Keeping chickens on a small scale is a very rewarding past time. Not only do you have a constant and reliable supply of fresh eggs to feed the family, you also have several new additions to the family. You can be out in the garden, and the chickens will wonder up to you, and huddle around your feet. These gentle creatures are a must for the small holder and they are now becoming more common in towns, villages and cities nationwide.
For those of you who know me, you may have followed me from blogspot over to my previous blog on vox. Well yet again, I have decided enough is enough and I feel that a new blog is appropriate. My last blog lost track, was a little tired, and needed updating more regularly. Well now I hope to use this new blog to pull through into a new magazine format blog. These are the new trend amongst bloggers, they have information on how to, when to and why, as well as normal personal updates. The inclusion of audio and video will also be new and exciting for both myself and my readers.
