Pretty Small No Longer Beautiful-?
Outside the window here in the 'rough office' in the paddock, the hens are busy following their natural behaviour patterns ('freeranging') of wandering around, searching for bits of grub - wonder how much of their feed requirements they get from this activity? They'll probably stop soon and re-locate to their 'resting' ground under the plum tree, on which the bird feeders hang. Not too many birds on the feeders hanging six feet or so away today - ah, might help to fill the feeders up.
Haven't, though, really felt the need to get to 'serious' feeder filling - although it's mid-November, it's still quite mild here in the UK midlands- it's been an exceptionally mild autumn and early winter. Fortunately there's a lot of foliage here on the 'eco micro holding' (small smallholding), supporting plenty of bird habitat, but it's probably still important to put out feed for them, particularly in hard winter weather, to help the bird populations – sparrows being apparently under some threat hereabouts, for instance. The recent appearance of a sparrowhawk a couple of times on the fence close to the feeders hasn't exactly inspired confidence in the birds to come and feed. Crikey - talk about built for the job - those large penetrating eyes and vicious hooked beak when seen still and close-up - one of Willy Blake's creatures of 'fearful symmetry' - magnificent but not so good for the poor sparrows.
Although leaves started to fall early this year, there are still quite a few on the trees - it could still be autumn really. 'Clearing up' seems to be the order of the day, the spent runner bean plants one of the early jobs, foliage onto the compost heap, sticks under cover, bean seeds into storage. Loads of fallen leaves, of course – cleared onto the compost heap, and, at long last, the stems of the broad beans used for seed collection cut off & to the compost; best to cut them off, pulling them up pulls the roots up, on which the nitrogen nodules live.
On the other hand, they'd then go onto the compost and release there, so 'broad (bean) as it's long'-? This last season's compost heap (see pic), recently 'capped' with soil, hasn't really compacted too much yet – over the next six months or so it will reduce to about 60% of its original height, and will actually go on the growing area spring 2013, the 2010 collected heap being available for 2012.
Basically, it's as simple as can be; just three compost heap areas, with the waste material 'thrown in and piled up', and hey presto, a few months later, and as if by magic, gorgeous fine and friable compost ready to put on the ground in late winter.The compost heaps are at the side of a tall hedge, so do get some protection of sorts..JPG)
On the 'edge----the other 'major' autumn and early winter work, sorry, 'labour of love', is hedge trimming and lopping off unwanted tree and shrub spars – good work with highly visible results, engendering the feeling of 'keeping things up together', which is satisfying. All very small, 'micro' beer, of no real consequence in the 'larger' arena, but certainly 'real and meaningful' to the individual(s) concerned.
Big is 'non-beautiful'----?
Big concerns i.e. supermarkets, being fined recently for acting together to keep up prices, (wasn't this mean't to be the age of low prices via competition-?), large companies such as energy and banking outfits charged with mis-selling their products to their own benefit and the detriment of individuals, giant financial organisations having to be propped up by taxpayers dosh due to imprudent, allegedly self-gaining practices, (there's even a TV programme this week called 'When Bankers Were Good'), politicians defrauding citizens with bogus and/or inflated expense claims, top bosses getting swingeing pay increases - blimey, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that it's 'citizen rip-off' time, with the poor power-bereft individual at the mercy of large commercial powerful predators in the 'free-market' culture, which seems to have now become the 'free-for-all', 'non-society' - Maggie Thatcher proved right when she said 'there's no such thing as society', and Fritz Schumacher wrong when he said 'small is beautiful' - ?
That's maybe strictly not true in that Schumacher's real sentiment may well have been 'small is potentially beautiful', and of course, small being non-powerful, such a notion may find fairly short shrift in any power-based 'largist' culture. Perhaps Schumacher may have been operating on the same lines as Robert Pirsig in his classic work 'Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance'; both could well have been trying to warn against creating a 'largist' power-based world, believing that 'small', in the shape of individuals, was the repositary of 'quality'', whereas a largist' culture would by definition be 'quantity' orientated. And how often, for instance, do you hear the all-sufficient cry of 'economies of scale – big is best', these days ?
Pots of dosh-------
The 'big' theme seems at times to be the thing that matters – a TV programme last night on 'How they made their millions' kept referring to making 'multi-millions'. Heck, just a simple million's 'small beer' now, then? Making the 'pots of dosh' seems to be the general, accepted reason for starting an enterprise – self-fulfillment and satisfaction don't appear to be too much in vogue, and so to make this large amount of dosh, the idea is to start off pretty big, with 'business growth' then the order of the day.
Whilst not wishing to pour too much cold water on enterprising efforts, is such an approach, though, a version of trying to 'run before walking' -? Back along, especially maybe in the rural sector, used to 'small' business applications, enterprises often started small, often out of personal interest, and developed 'organically', that is, at a natural and sustainable pace. And on the 'journey' valuable knowledge, experience and skills were acquired, particularly, maybe, with regard to customers, and because of the size and nature of the enterprises, reverses and counter-expectationary results could often be coped with. Probably too slow an approach though, for fast-paced modern times-?
All this harkens back to that old Dorset farmer and his 'tek yer time, me boy' advice - maybe, though, easier said than done in today's fast-moving, fast-changing culture, seemingly geared towards evermore growth and innovation.
Running, though, would seem generally to require walking skills as a prerequisite, which even then may not guarantee success, according to the German saying:
'running is of no use if on the wrong road'.
Ah well, this won't get those 'love labours' done - better just be running along, then.
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