Winter Wonderland!

It's funny how a fall of snow makes such a difference to the landscape- it all looks very pristine and clean out there. We have had a few days of snow- laying deep and crisp today it was an obvious invitation to get out there. Most weeks since the bees have moved to Woodborough we have walked over the fields to check them out. After an initial plod on the roads it is a lovely walk down the fields with a view towards the Trent valley in the distance. A bit misty to start with today but it soon cleared and the walk back was cloudy but better visibility.

We had great views of  flocks of field-fare, a green woodpecker, sparrow-hawk as well as the usual corvids and wood pigeons. These Jacobs sheep are always in the field at the bottom of the hill - today they were just standing in a line and were still there on the way back!

The beehives looked fine, last time we had been we hefted the hives to see how heavy they were- the 2 that had always been small colonies were still light but the others felt reasonable. Today we just wanted to check the entrances weren't blocked with snow and everything appeared fine- its impossible to know what's happening inside .We just have to hope they have enough stores and are not too cold to move to them.

Sometimes in snowy weather bees think it is bright outside because of the glare on the snow and come outside only to get too cold to get back inside- there were a couple of bees in the snow but no more and all the entrances were clear, so things are looking as well as they could be for now!

Compost Corner

The recent wet weather has meant we have been unable to get on the ground at the allotment so we are pleased that the compost bays were complete before a stream began to flow through the middle of the plot.

There are four bays allowing for rotation and turning, leaves are delivered to the allotments in the autumn and these along with layers of manure compost down in about a year or so. Leaves on their own give good soil conditioner but not much nutrition so mixing them with manure gives a good all round finished compost.

In to the other bays and 2 black bins go annual weeds, trimmings and prunings and some of the compostable rubbish from home. Along with the wormery we are doing fairly well in cutting down what we ahve to throw away!

Mead

Unlike some bee-keepers this year we had a reasonable crop of honey, especially considering the bees didn't settle to any normal pattern of behaviour. But some of the honey we had taken off late this year was still 20% water, usually we hope the water content goes down to around 18%. The higher the water content the honey does not always keep so well and may ferment- we have had a couple of jars look a bit doubtful so decided to check out the others and use them before they went the same way- the obvious thing to use them for was to make mead!

Like many people our age (!) we had gone through a home brewing stage and at the back of the cupboard under the stairs we have a cluster of demijohns and a box of wine making equipment. So really there was nothing to lose! Out they came and were sterilised- new wine yeast and yeast nutrient were bought and a simple recipe found.

After reading a lot of recipes I decide to just try a really simple, basic one:-

1.5 kg honey
1 tspn yeast nutrient
1 tspn wine yeast
Water

Heating the honey with cinnamon and cloves

I heated the honey with a litre of boiling water until it reached 140 F and kept it there for about 25 mins- this was to kill the natural yeast which can be unpredictable flavour-wise. Then I left it to cool down, added the nutrient and yeast, gave it a good shake, poured it into the demijohn and topped up with filtered water. I made 2 batches, one of them I put a cinnamon stick and a few cloves in as I heated it- just out of interest to see if it would pick up the flavours.
 Just in case the fermentation got too vigorous I put the demijohns in the bath so it wouldn't make too much mess!
After about half an hour they were both bubbling away and today- after 24 hours , not overflowing but steady and strong! It seems that it is now just a matter of time to wait while the fermentation stops, then letting the wine clear and racking it off - all of which will probably take a few months- I need to find somewhere else for the bottles to go for now though!

New Shed

Once the old shed had been demolished the tricky bit of levelling the site remained. Luckily Mike and Eileen were there to help - a big thank you to them both for their help in taking down the new shed from its old plot, moving and re-assembling it on Plot 87!

It makes a big difference- there is potentially more space at the top of the allotment- we hope to open it out and move the blackberry and tayberry to have a bit of standing ground for plants and maybe a potting bench- all plans for the future. We have already started work on the new compost area at the bottom of the allotment and hope to get the new cordon fruit trees in before too long. 

On the bee front - all the hives seem busy whenever we see them, I am not completely happy that the supplies they have taken in are going to be enough, we have hefted the hives to gauge the weight and will keep a close eye on them to see if or when feeding will be necessary. Some of the colonies were very small which is an added concern, we shall just have to wait and see! I have had my 2nd dose of venom in the de-sensitisation program and so far no problems!

Shed Demolition

So this week the shed demolition began- it looks old, rotten and ready to go -but whoever put it up had made a good job, using 6 inch nails all over the place!

Windows gone and stripped out.

The corrugated tin roof did not want to come off - but we hope to use it in a new compost area.

Just missed the greenhouse, but mostly down!

It took nearly 2 days to get to the cutting up stage- luckily the association was having a tidy up of other gardens and a fire was planned and we were able to burn all the bits that were rotten or couldn't be used again. The next step though is probably hardest- clearing the ground and levelling for the new shed- watch this space!!

Autumn on the Allotment

Over the past few weeks we have been fairly busy - a relaxing holiday in the Cotswolds with Gemma, followed by a lovely  visit from Rebecca, Adam and our Grandsons.

Another Cotswold village!

Sherwood Forest

The bees have been treated for varroa and fed until they seem like they're full- oddly the hives we have experimentally tried feeding with their own honey don't seem to have taken much down and we are not sure why. Some of the colonies were quite small as they had decided to re-queen late in the year- they have taken stores down but still have space to keep warm with fewer bees- it remains to be seen how they will fair over winter. The weather has been mild and every time we have visited them they are busy flying- lots of ivy is flowering nearby so they will have been collecting this to add to what we have fed them.

When we took over our allotment plot about 7 years ago there was a resident shed- slightly at an angle and the sort of arrangement often seen on allotments - 2 sheds cobbled together!  The general consensus was that it wouldn't last long! Over the years though it had settled and stood it's ground. This autumn though it was leaking, our seed had been eaten and we decided to replace it. to look at you'd think it could be pushed down but the shed wasn't going to go without a fight!

Moorgreen Show

August Bank holiday must see lots of local agricultural and horticultural shows around the country- in Notts the Moorgreen Show is the popular one.

Usually we are away visiting family, but this year we were at home so we had the chance to enter the honey show and we were keen to have a go at wax. We had good results earlier in the year with our solar wax extractor- recently the weather has not been as sunny so results have been a bit hit and miss, but there was enough wax to try and make the 6 one ounce bars needed to show.

Results - we entered the Light Honey, Set Honey and Wax classes , first prize for wax, and thirds for both honeys. The next show is Lowdham at the beginning of October- I am hoping to enter honey, wax and cake!

(Note   : I wrote this post and scheduled it on the 24th August so not sure what happened here, but this post seems to be out of the timeline!!)