Raised Beds
Posted: Sat 18 April, 2009 Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Green Garden Leave a comment »Among other things, today we’ve built two raised beds (technically three, but two have been joined together to make a double-height one) for the veg patch.
It didn’t start well, but i the end everything combined OK and the last two went together in about 45 minutes each.
They’ve been made from 7″ x 1″ planks (so the double-height is 14″ high) and will work to be part of our new plan for the veg patch – reducing the workload by covering most of the patch in weedproof membrane, and using the raised beds for our crops/veg.
It means we won’t be using all the space, but it does mean we should be able to get on with growing stuff, rather than ending up with a patch that’s primarily great for growing weeds…
The Chicken Run
Posted: Wed 1 April, 2009 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Getting Organised, Green, Green Garden, Thoughts 2 Comments »It’s coming up for a year now since we enlarged the chicken run (well, we did it at the end of July, so it’s about 8 or 9 months) and I’m debating what to do with the thing.
The problem is, of course, that the three chickens have pretty much pecked the place to death, so there’s not much except dirt and nettles in there at the moment. There’s a couple of bits in there for the amusement of the chickens (hay bales etc.) but I’m still thinking about what we should do with the ground in there.
I suppose there’s three options really…
- Leave it as it is
- Put new turf in the entire area of the run
- Cover the run in bark-chip or similar (wood mulch, whatever)
With the exception of “leave it like it is”, both the other options would also involve setting up a smaller temporary run (possibly on the veg patch, let ’em peck away at the weeds and mare’s tail) for a couple of weeks, while we got the work done.
I know that Blue Witch recently re-turfed her chicken run but I haven’t yet decided between turf and bark-chip/wood mulch. I suspect that over time, the wood mulch would give them something they could keep on pecking into etc., but it’d still have to be replaced/cleared up every so often, due to the quantity of crap that chickens produce.
It’s something that’ll be decided sometime in April, I’m sure.
Yesterday
Posted: Sun 22 March, 2009 Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Green Garden, House Work Leave a comment »Well, as it turns out, the problem with the cooker was actually an issue with the gas supply stuff outside the house – the low-pressure thingy had been triggered somehow, and was doing exactly what it was supposed to do.
Luckily, the cooker engineer who came out was lovely, and willing to talk to the guy who had done the original install (who also knew we were more than slightly fucked off by the entire thing) so between them they got it sorted out. Even better, because it was something we didn’t know about – allbeit had looked at, when it looked fine – we didn’t get charged anything for them fixing the problem.
And as well as now having a working cooker again – for which happy, happy day – we’ve also managed to get a number of jobs done round the house.
- Kitchen wall tiles are now all grouted in. (Floor tiles will be done on Monday, most likely)
- Appointment has been made with an accountant to see what’s going to happen.
- I’ve started painting the wooden fence panels. Six down, ninety-one to go.
- We’ve started laying a bundle of weed-proof membrane over bits of the veg patch, for work over the next few weeks
- The fruit trees have had a trim/prune
- We’ve done a bundle of other stuff too. I just can’t remember it right now.
So yes, while we’re not “on holiday” as such, it’s looking like it’ll be fairly productive and get a bundle of outstanding jobs out the way. (Which will, of course, just make room for other jobs instead)
Cooling Towers
Posted: Tue 10 February, 2009 Filed under: Green, News, Photography, Thoughts 1 Comment »Having lived near(ish) to Didcot when I grew up, and having worked a couple of times in the shadow of the towers themselves, I thought this BBC piece about Didcot power station and its cooling towers was really interesting.
It’s relevant to the entire energy, power, and pollution thing too, of course – but I can’t deny, it’s relevance to me was more about the location.
I’d love to go inside these towers one day and take photos – although from the sound of it, the photos would just be grey mist.
Semi-Green
Posted: Tue 10 February, 2009 Filed under: Cynicism, Green, Thoughts Leave a comment »Apparently, a town in Norfolk is to take part in a trial of a “green” oil that can be used in boilers to heat homes.
Supposedly this oil has a lower “carbon footprint” than normal fuel oil, and is thus “greener”.
However, there’s also this in the story…
The fuel being used is a biodiesel manufactured by Argent Energy, in Motherwell, Scotland, from used vegetable oil and tallow, which is blended with conventional oil by Pace Fuelcare, in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, before the company delivers it to the properties.
So this biodiesel is going to be transported from Motherwell to Kings Lynn (some 350 miles) by truck before being added to normal fuel oil, and then delivered – again by truck – to houses and schools.
All of which makes the entire ‘green’ carbon footprint of the stuff slightly more suspect than it perhaps should be…
Green Bulbs
Posted: Sun 8 February, 2009 Filed under: Domestic, Green, Thoughts Leave a comment »When we moved in, one of our (admittedly small) mistakes was the lights that we bought for the kitchen. There are two fittings, and each of those holds four halogen bulbs. Oops.
They’re obviously fairly power-consuming, with 4x60watt bulbs in each fitting. So we spent some time today looking at more eco-friendly low-wattage bulbs in a GU10 fitting for these light fittings. And bloody hell, they’re expensive. A normal GU10 bulb will set us back about £1.50 to £2.50, depending on where you go.
So far, the cheapest we’ve found for a green GU10 energy-saving bulb is about £7, while the normal price for them appears to be around £10 each.
So to replace the bulbs in our two kitchen light fittings is going to cost something like £60 at a minimum, and actually closer to £80-90.
I don’t mind paying a bit extra for an energy-saving bulb – although today we picked up a 100W bulb for £1, which is awesome – but to be paying 300-400% more for an energy-saving bulb than the normal GU10 bulbs means they’ve got to save one hell of a alot before they’ve paid for themselves.
I’m sure they will in the long run, but it’s a pain in the arse right now, it has to be said…
Green Fuels, New Problems
Posted: Mon 29 December, 2008 Filed under: Cynicism, Driving, Green, Thoughts 1 Comment »This story on BBC News raises an interesting issue – as more cars get converted to dual fuel, and use LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas), crashes and vehicle fires are starting to carry significantly more risk.
After all, LPG is carried in cylinders under pressure, which make it very similar to the acetylene cylinders which always make the Fire Service pap themselves (and for good reason) due to the possibility of explosion if they get too hot in a fire. If you’ve ever put an aerosol can on a fire, think of the effects of that and multiply it by a thousand. Explosion, fireball, etc. etc. In short, Ka-boom.
The same is true (and even possibly exacerbated) with LPG canisters – after all, petrol escaping from pressure and turning back into gas is going to cause one heck of a bang.
So I suspect we’re going to see more road closures for relatively minor accidents and/or vehicle fires where LPG-powered vehicles are involved.
Think I’ll stick with diesel, myself…