Allotment update - Leek scapes, rhubarb and bean frames...

Work is progressing on the plot, more prep work done, this time I have to deal with the rhubarb flowers, and the weeds, it does feel as though we're getting somewhere with things now, just waiting for the weather to pick up.

I've also made two simple bean frames for some of our climbing beans, it was a nice sunny day and I'm happy with the work so far, it'll soon be time to plant out the beans and squashes and all the other stuff.

Anyway here's a video from the latest trip to the plot -

Thanks for visiting.

Handmade pin cushion without a lathe...

Another pin cushion I made recently, this one was made without using a lathe, and it's made from a piece of spalted birch with a tie dyed pink cushion, and in a droplet style shape.

It's something that can easily be done with hand tools and is a bit different from the usual round pin cushions I've made, it's a really easy wood working project and one that you can get creative with, this one like all the things I make is made from reclaimed materials, so not only is it a good project it's cheap as well.

I do sell some of the things I make and I've now listed the pin cushions on my website, there's a load of other stuff on there as well - www.the-shed-and-beyond.co.uk

Droplet shaped pin cushion - 

And here's the video I took while making it - 

Thanks for visiting.

How to repair a puncture...

A rough guide on how to repair a puncture in a bicycle inner tube, or at least the way I've been doing it for years, it's a simple process, it can be done almost anywhere as long as you have a repair kit and a pump.

There are products you can buy that will temporarily fix a puncture really quickly, Tire weld is one that springs to mind, technically made for cars but it does work for pushbikes.

Anyway hopefully this will prove useful -

Thanks for visiting.

Allotment update - Strawberries,Radish,Bees and a Butterfly...

Finally got the fruit bed sorted out, so now the strawberries, black currants, gooseberries and rhubarb are weed free (ish) sowed some radish seed in a blank patch of earth while we decided what to do with it.

Didn't get round to moving the skirret, but as it's started to grow I'm leaving it where it is for now, and really it's just getting ready for planting stuff out, once it's grown.

We've loads of stuff on the go in the greenhouse, beans of various types, squashes of various types and a host of other things, but the weather has been a bit bad for the time of year so we're holding off on planting a lot of stuff out.

Another productive day though and I'm pleased with the results.

Here's the latest video -

Thanks for visiting.

Making pincushions...

I've been trying to use up some of the scraps of wood I have, I tend to hoard small bits of wood as they might come in useful at some point, I've made pincushions before on my lathe and it is a quick and simple use of any small off cuts of wood and indeed material as well.

The one's I've made in the video are all from recycled materials, even the polyester padding, it's from an old cushion, I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out.

Here's a video on how to make them - 

And here's a picture of the ones I made recently - 

Thanks for visiting.

How to identify Foxgloves and Comfrey...

If you've ever had trouble telling Foxglove from Comfrey which is a mistake I've made in the past (and recently) hopefully this post will help you (and me) avoid future mistakes.

It's easily done especially when the plants are young, I recently moved some plants about on our plot and thought I'd moved 3 Comfrey plants, turns out it was 1 Comfrey plant and 2 Foxgloves, either way I'm happy the comfrey will make a useful feed for plants and wildlife and the foxglove is a great plant for bees and such like as well.

If you don't want to watch the video I've added a couple of pictures as well as a guide to -

Video -

Picture guide (you can click on the images for a better view)

Foxglove -

Comfrey - 

Thanks for visiting.

Allotment update - Blackcurrants, Leeks and Big Bud Mite...

Another productive session on the plot, relocated the self seeded leeks, made a new bed for our black currant plants and discovered that some of the black currants have big bud mite, which I talk about a couple of times in the video, but basically it is a sap sucking mite that gets into the forming leaf buds and they become swollen, there is a diagram in the video that shows the difference between a good leaf bud and an infected one.

I didn't manage to move our skirret plants, so that'll have to be done on the next visit, and as the weather warms up we'll start sowing seeds for a variety of crops.

Here's the video, I hope you find it useful -

Thanks for visiting.