Thursday 20 August 2015

Talking of weedkiller

Hello,
 Gosh It's been a while since I last posted. However people are still commenting on it, which I'm so pleased with.
In the field next to us one of the utility companies has been excavating a problem. This has been going on for some years now. In order to get at the problem they have shifted tons of earth into a huge bund next to our wall. This bund is actually three bunds making a large "C" shaped earthwork. Each year the weeds grow really high here and the butterflies visiting the flowers are lovely. A couple of years ago they sprayed without our knowledge and a large ash and a birch that we are growing at the boundry were damaged (initially we though we had ash dieback) The weeds died back and became quite a fire hazard next to our barn.
Last week David walked into the field to see a guy spraying the bund. He hot foots it over to the bloke and asks him what he is doing. The guy with the sprayer told him that someone from the village has complained about the weeds being unsightly and possibly seeding into their gardens, so they are spraying it with weedkiller. David is incandescent by now.. "What weedkiller?" He asks "Roundup" the guy says proudly. Despite David wanting to throttle the guy (goodness knows it wasn't his fault, he was only following orders) he politely asked him to stop, He informed the guy that it was our land that was next to the weeds and that we had been growing without any chemicals for twenty five years and that there were 14 hives of bees within feet of his spraying. All credit to the guy, he stopped immediately. A couple of days later a digger arrived, removed the top layer of soil alongside the weeds and then another bloke followed on with a strimmer to our wall. MUCH BETTER. !


Interestingly, before we knew that next door was being sprayed, I was hanging the washing out in the garden that houses the hives  and a few bees were "fizzing" around me. We live in harmony with the bees in this garden and this was unusual enough for me to mention it to David. We wonder if the two incidents were connected.
Here is our outside eating area, you can see the bund over the wall.
 Earlier this year I realised that we hadn't made too good a job of digging up all last year's potatoes, when a few leaves appeared . I decided to leave them as we were not going to do much with that garden this year. All I did with them is throw some grass cuttings around them. A couple of days ago I noticed that a couple of those plants were starting to die back so I dug two plants up. The first plant yielded 5.5 kg and the second 3.5kg. What a yield and there is more to come.
Here they are. They are Sarpo Miras and are a blight resistant variety that are superb for jackets and roasties.


Off to Cornwall tomorrow for a spot of sea fishing. as usual the family will move in to oversee the animals and greenhouses.

Thanks for joining in with the discussion about food intolerance.

Thought you might like to see Coda, our granddaughter's dog with a small stick that he has found. He hopes that we will throw it for him!


Back soon
Gillx

11 comments:

  1. I do think before spraying they would think of alternatives like strimming and turning the soil, well done for the intervention I hope it hasnt had any affect on your bees, good haul of spuds there from strays :-)

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    1. If he had started just half an hour later we would have been out and the damage would have been done.
      Can't wait to see how the potatoes that we actually planted have done!

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  2. Good for you for tackling the spraying issue. There is too much of it going on and I'm sure the bees had detected something amiss. Great spuds BTW :)

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    1. I wonder if other beekeepers have noticed the same reaction with their bees, but haven't read anything so far. It is the first time ever that I have had to leave putting the washing out because of the bees and I've pegged out during a swarm and hot summer days when all the hives are busy around me with no trouble for years.

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  3. Our Monty (who looked very much like Coda) would bring whole tree trunks out from the woods. My ankles have never been the same since.

    I left a few self-sown tomatoes in the ground, and we're now eating the fruits. Free and wild; what could be better.

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    1. Whenever I see the picture of Monty at the top of your blog I think of Coda. (we get felled frequently by him!)
      I have some self seeded tomatoes, but I don't think anything will come of them the season hasn't really been long enough.

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  4. Some stick that!
    People are so thoughtless with weedkiller - we never, ever use it here.
    Enjoy your fishing trip.

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    1. Glad to hear that you don't spray. So many farmers and growers are hooked into a cycle of chemical spraying, which is self perpetuating - clever pharmaceutical practice.
      Just packing up now and hoping to restock for the winter with pollack.
      btw the carrots are coming along - those the cat didn't dig up that is!

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  5. Have a good fishing trip in Cornwall
    Just thought I would let you know that it's over 10 YEARS since we went away in the summer!! Therefore slightly green with envy

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    1. It will all be different for you soon, when you and Col become Hobos with your caravan.
      I will expect to see you up here in beautiful Derbyshire.
      I know we are lucky being able to get away, but it is tinged with guilt for me. it is also planned like a battle campaign with lists everywhere for the smallholding sitters.

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  6. Round-up causes birth defects in humans - it has been banned in France and will be banned in the U.K. before too long....make sure that it gets stopped for good, Gill !

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