Far Lands

It's that time of year - the days are getting warmer, the vegetable garden is beginning to look busy, fruit trees are in blossom - when anything seems possible . . . . . . including flying carpets? Well, yes and no. The secret of this carpet is underneath it - part of a cunning plan. Last week was St George's Day after which the St George's Mushroom is named. We are lucky enough to have a large ring of this edible mushroom. However, it grows in grass and we lose most of the tasty shrooms to slugs. So, this year I have had a carpet in place since November to discourage grass. I also put down a layer of wood chippings to clean the mushrooms as they grow. We lifted the carpet at the weekend and found some success! Some mushrooms were growing nicely - cleanly - but my carpet was not big enough and some were in the grass. Next year, I need a whole roll of carpet!

We are through (well I am through) the hungry gap in terms of both veg and fruit. The rhubarb is coming along well (although not as well as my brother in Llangollen who is fashioning walking-sticks out of his), and the lovage has also arrived. Sarah will eat rhubarb but is not a fan of lovage. I, of course, love my lovage - although it does have to be boiled. I eat the whole thing as there is not much other green stuff (here, at least, at the moment). Technically (ie Furnley-Wittingstally) you are meant to use it to delicately to flavour soups and stews. That's no good! I need to consume great bunches of it, if I want to try and be (more-or-less) self-sufficient.

Bees are back at Farlands. I had reached the top of the Cheshire beekeepers list as wanting a new colony, and last week I got the call. A colony was ready. You may remember that our last colony died during the Winter of 2012/13 due both to a very poor Summer when they had not made enough food for the Winter, and naive beekeeping because I did not feed them enough (they need 20 kgs plus of honey to last them through the cold season). Sarah was a little nervous about travelling in the car with them, but only a couple seemed to get out, and thankfully they preferred to stay in the boot. Yesterday was a warm day and they were busy checking Farlands out. I hope there is enough pollen and nectar for them - the plum blossom is just coming but the horse chestnut is still a week or two away, and there is not much else. To tell each other where the food sources are they do the famous 'waggle dance' (amongst others) and I am watching carefully to see if they flick me a ...

This is the latest addition to the hen house (not actually attached). What is it? (comments on my woodwork are on the wrong track) (non-chicken owners only!)

I have joined the High Peak branch of  Log Watch . Like Farm Watch, it's an offshoot of Neighbourhood Watch and new groups are springing up in rural areas all over the country. They are needed because of the increasing thefts of wood from wood stacks, and from felled trees waiting to be logged and collected. Increasing utility bills are thought to be the main cause. Anyway, it's quite good fun - monthly meetings (chain-saw sharpening, that kind of thing), and weekly patrols in high-vis helmets. Our branch is supported by the local Neighbourhood Beat Officer, who at our inaugural meeting a few weeks ago said, 'It's a great new addition to the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme - people need to remember that logs don't grow on trees.'