The Sustainable Smallholding – An Aspiration

Hi All

My Blog title, The Sustainable Smallholding, is an aspiration, as opposed to a description of where we are at the moment. The reasons for that are many, and complex, but one of the key ones is the sheer amount of knowledge that you need to acquire, and solutions that you have to find, to achieve sustainability, self reliance, or self sufficiency. It seems that each time that you peel back a layer of a problem, another sits nestled within. In this post I will explore some of the areas that I have identified as important in my search for sustainability.

February Bee Forage Plants – Part Three

Today the weather warmed up, and I was surrounded by bees foraging whilst I worked. Well, surrounded isn’t technically correct, I was between them, and their forage. I took a bit of time off to take some pictures for this post, and got one or two really good shots. I also noticed/remembered a couple more useful bee forage plants.

This post follows on from the February Bee Forage Post, and from the February bee Forage Part Two post. You might want to follow the links to the original posts first.

Permaculture – Zoning for Bees

Hi All

I haven’t been idle in the evenings. I recently wrote two articles on the Worldwide Permaculture Network, the most recent was about the use of the Permaculture tool of Zoning, in relation to planting trees and plants to produce pollen and nectar for bee forage.

My Permaculture Blog is Two Years Old

Hi All

The Second anniversary of The Sustainable Smallholding Blog slipped by a few days ago, without me celebrating. This time last year, I was celebrating over 6,000 hits on the blog in it’s first year. At the end of the second year, that has climbed to almost 19,000.

Last year’s post can be found by following the link. Permaculture blog

Listening to Plants

Before you think that I’ve finally crossed the threshold from eccentric, to dangerous, I’m not actually writing about plants speaking, or making sounds, more like being open to learn from what you see. I was going to use the title, Permaculture Principles – Observe and Interact, but I did that at this time last year HERE. So I’ve gone for something a little bit different in the title, even if the thrust of the post is the same.

Today I was potting on seedlings of the Amur Cork tree (Phellodendrum Amurensis). The seeds were sown last year, in a 12 inch shallow terracotta pot, and have been outside, unprotected, all Winter. I wasn’t sure if they had survived, but had not seen any evidence of dieback on the stems. I’m growing them for my bees, as the trees are a good source of nectar, flowering in June, and I can also harvest wood for fuel. However it was what I saw inside the pot that gave me the incentive to write this post.

February Bee Forage Plants part Two

Hi All

I was feeling quite pleased with myself after finishing my last post on February Bee Forage Plants. I had produced a post that was likely to interest beekeepers, and managed to slip a few Permaculture Principles into it too. However, whilst walking the dogs yesterday, the haze of smugness that was surrounding me parted, and I realised that I had missed out some good February forage plants. Now I never claimed that the post was definitive, but I wanted to include the additional information, so rather than just update the original article, I though that I would write a second post.

February Bee Forage Plants

Hi All

On Tuesday and Wednesday my bees were out forageing, which was great to see, so I thought that it might be nice to summarise what they’re making use of at the moment. I also though that I’d add a few growing tips, and add some thoughts about how the plants fit into a permaculture design, or planting scheme.

Bee on Winter Honeysuckle

Book Recommendation- The Resilient Gardener, Carol Deppe

Hi All

I recently finished reading The Resilient Gardener, by Carol Deppe. Normally I would do a full review on a good book, but possibly the most telling thing that I can say about this book, is that there is so much outstanding content in this book, that it would take me hours to tell you about it. Instead, I’m going to tell you why you should buy your own copy, and study it hard.

The Worldwide Permaculture Network

Hi All

I’ve just signed up to the Worldwide Permaculture Network. This project is an interactive database designed to showcase Permaculture people and projects.