'Beavering Birds'-----
There's quite a lot of 'vegetation' here on the Uk midlands eco micro-holding (small organic smallholding) sustaining quite a lot of bird life - there's blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, wrens, sparrows, doves, pigeons and jackdaws all nesting here, plus probably other species and fledglings have already appeared (now in early May). April's been pretty ropey with plenty of rain and cold weather, with the birds 'beavering away', but also in need of supplementary feeding, as in winter. The swallows, though, must have been having a tough time in such adverse weather conditions. They appeared pretty much on time - around April 12th - and then promptly disappeared again for quite a few days - wonder where they went? Fortunately they seem to have now reappeared, but the weather still needs to warm up a bit to presumably supply enough flies for them to eat. Amazing athletes - catching flies on the wing.
The dodgy April weather has also taken its toll on the growing side here. Some beetroot seedlings have appeared, for instance, but pretty patchy -not sure whether the rest will, they may have rotted in the cold, wet ground. Similarly the spuds - the earlies under plastic have come through ok but the rest may just be rotting - there's now some plastic over them, but maybe it's a case of 'shutting the stable door' a little too late - time will tell. On the brighter side the plentiful sunshine of March brought the spring cabbage on in leaps and bounds - must have been eating them for around a month now. Lettuce have come on well in the bottom glasshouse in the paddock, the planted out broad beans are growing ok, now about a foot high, and the onion sets have done ok in the less than ideal conditions - been a bit of a b--- though, getting on the wet ground to hoe them - hey ho.
'Easy grow----'
The broad been patch is sizeable - as legumes they fix plant nutrients in the soil from the air, so make a good- and free - contribution to organic soil fertility. The 6m*6m patch is 'for free', using home-saved seed and no chemical costs, and not too much labour either -just planting out and one hoeing at most (some years no hoeing has been needed). Compare that with an 'easy grow' veg offer in a recent weekend broadsheet- a one metre square pre-pack raised bed, compost and 42 plants for the princely sum of £160 spondoolicks. Got to be dear veg? On the other hand, there's still the satisfaction of having self-grown it, and it may inspire some to go on to better, bigger - and cheaper(!) things. Another 'easy grow' initiative, this time a printed guide, included no brassicas at all, presumably on 'easy grow' grounds. What could be easier, though, than sowing seeds in a pot in July, planting them out in Sept, leaving them alone all winter, then collecting the produce i.e. spring greens and cabbage, in spring, when there's 'nowt else' to pick? Few pests or diseases to strike either at that time of year.
Cockle warming-----
Next years fuel in the form of logs has arrived and made quite a pile in the driveway - they'll all now go into the logstore in the grandly-entitled 'micro holding logistics centre' (a re-cycled concrete garage) and busily dry out over summer, to be then the main fuel for the woodstove for the winter, along with some wood already in store, to be sawn up over next winter, providing three warmths: from the physical activity of sawing, from the heat from the stove, and from 'warming the cockles'. It'll be a bit of a sweat, too, shifting the pile into the store - the rule is: around 8 barrowfuls per day, (normally in two 15 min. spells), and after 4-5 days, hey presto, a pretty full-up logstore, a good, satisfying and welcome sight. The woodstove here (a relatively small cottage) consumes 4-5 tonnes of wood during the winter (not kept in at night), depending on the severity, and the cost is approx. £70 per tonne - good for the pocket, and good for the environment.
The other useful attribute of wood as a main fuel is that it can be stored, as has quite a bit of free wood here, and then as prices rise, be brought in in stages to offset any rises in price per tonne. And not then forgetting the woodstove's role as a 'fertiliser production plant', the woodash going onto the soil in spring supplying much needed organic potash fertiliser. All good, independent 'freeranger' stuff.
How are the mighty-----
Just in the space of the last few days, three chief executives of largish concerns have been toppled in a shareholder backlash against what's increasingly referred to as the 'fat cat' culture, in which those in power appear to have awarded themselves pretty lavish remuneration packages, which seems to then contrast somewhat with the astringencies and difficulties so-called 'ordinary people' are having to contend with. and now even the employers' top man (chairman of the CBI) is recently reported as calling on 'bosses' to exercise more self-restrainnt and responsibility. In a competitively-hyped world, 'being someone' is presumably then one of the natural response outcomes to such a culture, which, though, has been labelled somewhat one-dimensional, and anyway, aren't people competitive enough? Wouldn't making competitiveness into a strongly-focused 'cultural gaol' run the risk of counter-productivity due to imbalance or a too limited state of balance in a reality that is maybe, after all, multi-dimensioned -? (for instance, some have pointed out that 'care' seems to have been a casualty of 'competitivised' cultures). For freerangers too, might it mean over-restriction to the smaller 'self world', limiting access to any 'bigger world' view-? Just a thought, -- or two.
Maximum respect----?
Perhaps this emphasis on competitiveness and therefore on 'self', has too changed the current nature of leadership into the more self-gaining version and away from the 'caring for others' more traditional form, 'caring' in many of its forms seemingly having been one of the casualties of such competitive current culture trends, maybe, though, to longer-term detriment -?
Talking of 'caring leadership', how about this for an example. Having visited a military cemetary last summer whilst 'en vacance' in France, to pay respect to a family member fallen in the 1st World War, and on walking back through the thousands of graves, one suddenly jumped out due to the collection of serious valour medals detailed on the gravestone: DFC, DSO, MC, VC. This turned out to be the grave of the Rev.T.B. Hardy, who's story unfolded back home via the internet. At the age of 50 his application to become an army padre had been turned down, only then for the authorities to give way in the face of his persistance. All his valour medals were then awarded for his repeated saving of injured young soldiers under fire in no-man's land, him being unarmed himself. His VC (Victoria Cross-highest award for bravery) was presented to him by the King himself who was in France at the time, and who told Hardy that he'd more than done his bit and he was now to come home and be the King's own personal chaplain. Hardy, though, respectfully declined the offer, telling the King that he couldn't leave and desert his 'brave young lads'.
What succour and salve, too, must he have brought to those brave but no doubt scared out of their wits youngsters, being there along with them, all truly living in a 'hell on earth'? A man who 'practised what he preached' and in his own way, lead from the front. Of course, they got him in the end, which is why he was in the cemetery --- and yet still inspiring people all this time on. Crikey, even though God may have been with him, what a man. Maybe not in modern fashion, though - one well-known finance worker reportedly commented that she now treated employees more 'properly', as they then lasted longer. Commercial interests 1, humanitarianism 0 - ?
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