Far Lands

I seem to have it genetically programmed that November is the month to deal with rhubarb. And having dug our massive new rhubarb bed, I was keen to get some 'barb in it. So we dug up some of our rhubarb, and with a spade cut it into chunks, each with a bit of root and a bud. It is funny old stuff - like a very old rotten tree root. Then we planted each with yet more manure and a sprinkling of TLC. November also means strawberries, and fed up with the slugs and the grass this year, I am trying a new plan with raised beds surrounded by yet more inverted old carpet with chipping on top. Two of the three beds are now planted up. And its Movember, so I'm growing a facial hedge complete with twirly bits - v itchy. I was not sure which of the three November plantings you would most like a photo of. In the end I opted for the strawb beds!

Early Xmas present from Eva! They are bantams, and won't start laying to the Spring. They are settling themselves into the turkey house which has a little modification - it now has a microwave. Actually no microwave, but it does have a window. They are confined to barracks for 4 or 5 days, and then will go free-range. So, the head count at Farlands has increased to 20 005. Getting quite crowded.

   This seemed like a good idea at the time...if you need a translation, then give me a call and I'll make something up. There is a Part II, but I think Part I is enough...   

Like the trek itself, Kathmandu is going both backwards and forwards in terms of progress. The city stinks, and seems to have got far worse over my 20 years of visiting, The pollution, the smog is appalling - the locals are now wearing face-masks as well as the Japanese tourists (who strangely were still wearing them at ABC itself (Sarah refused to allow me to ask one of them why; and she had an important potential sanction, refusing to zip our sleeping bags together - crucial at 4000m in my experience). There is rubbish everywhere, piles of it, not to mention the heavily polluted rivers and streams in the city. But what did seem to be new was the chaos - everywhere seemed to being knocked down and re-built. Bricks, rubble, metal rods everywhere. It was my room 101 - immersion in one giant building project with everyone you met being a builder. In terms of progress, Nepal seems to have developed a middle class; whether this is a good or bad thing I will leave to your own politics...

Just back from Nepal... Our Annapurna Base Camp trek was a good one - 10 days of almost perfect weather, no rain. Great views, smiling faces everywhere and pizza and apple pie every night if you wanted it. And we did! I did this trek 20 years ago. Some things have not changed at all; the subsistence agriculture is still very evident and makes a very interesting if humiliating (the size of their cabbages!) trekking panorama. Nepali livestock are trained to be precise... But, a lot has changed. Mobile phones are ubiquitous - including ABC itself. Even the odd laptop. Like many developing countries, they have bypassed landlines. And electricity is almost everywhere; with all its associated hoorays (lights, microwaves, even a hoover in one lodge) and boos (TVs). A man with a hoover...

I have finally dug the new rhubarb bed. Not a casual undertaking as it is a new bed, and involved double-digging and wheelbarrowing copious amounts of manure from the local farm. For those not familiar with double-digging, here is my method:- 1. remove turfs from a section (I did about 0.5 m squared at a time) 2. dig out subsoil (about 30cms) and put to one side 3. remove about 5-10 cms of regolith (I looked this term up but it is very distinct - rocks and pebbles, no humus at all); dispose (using 'penguin' trousers as used in the film The Great Escape) 4. invert turfs and lay at bottom of hole 5. fill with 10-15cms of manure 6. back fill with subsoil (mixing in more manure) I have had a massive problem with slugs living in the ever-encroaching grass, so my latest plan is to use inverted carpet to surround my beds, and cover it with chipping. This can be seen in the photos. This is quite hard work, but regularly punctuated by almost getting stuck in the next-d...

No, we have not opened our doors to the great unwashed. But, we have got RHI! The greatest (financial) risk of the whole project has been whether we would get it. We have and that could be worth £50 000 over the 20 years of the scheme. A little detail? (Rhetorical I am afraid to anyone who knows me.) The Renewable Heat Incentive is the government's subsidy scheme similar to FIT (Feed in Tariffs; for electrical generation via solar energy). RHI concerns heat energy and can be generated in a number of (renewable) ways; including wind, solar, hydro, heat pumps and biomass (wood). We have a wood pellet boiler so we are eligible. The RHI scheme is not yet open for domestic customers (it soon will be), but we are considered a district installation (ie non-domestic) as our one boiler feeds two council tax properties (ie our House and our Cottage). So we are eligible now. Scores on the doors? The government will pay us 8.3p for every KW hour that we generate. Up to a yearly max...