Crossing the Blues
Showing posts with label Brunswick Organic Nursery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brunswick Organic Nursery. Show all posts

Thursday 2nd June 11

Such a busy day!  I had postponed the visit to Brunswick Organic Nursery from yesterday and I also had to deliver the 'hard copy' press releases for the World Naked Bike Ride which the Press and Radio hadn't responded to after they were sent by email.on the 27th May.

So that was my first trip out.  I set out with the two press releases and then returned 3 minutes later as I'd forgotten the fliers.  I then bombed down to Gillygate to the Radio York building and gave in the press release and discussed how best to publicise the event through the radio.  From here I popped round to Millers Yard and Dylan was happy to have the fliers.  Then a swift walk through the centre of town to the Press office.  I had a look through the paper which had just been published; they hadn't responded to our press release but had printed the letter I sent in a couple of days ago.   Then I had a chat with Dan, a reporter, who took the press release and fliers and said he'd try to get something in on Saturday.

From here I shot off down Fulford Road, over Millennium Bridge and out to Bishopthorpe.  I was pleased to meet friends at Brunswick, including Adam, and gave out a few fliers for the WNBR.  I found a good selection of squash plants and one or two other things, including some Marigolds for Gill, by request.

Then home, for a late lunch and a bit of a sit down and then off again to see if I could get a better quality 'Micro SD' card for my little camera.  I saw a YouTube video of a 'before and after' with the Micro SD which came with the camera (jerky, not the best quality) and then after a SanDisk SD card replaced it.  Much better, a smoother film.  I cycled to Staples and they had a replacement 8GB card for £18... but not from SanDisk, but Lexar, which they said was a good quality product.  I wanted the 8GB one as that's what the camera came with... I could have got a SanDisk 2GB or 4GB for considerably less... but I bought the £18 version, and was told that if the quality was not what I wanted, I could bring it back.  I put it in the camera and did a test film on the way home.

At 6 I cycled out again, to a Freecycler who had offered some Basil seedlings.  I offered to swap them for a bean or two, so took two toilet-roll grown Pea Beans over to her.

After tea, which was linguine with home grown spinach, we put up the new tent.  We bought this last year and hadn't tested it, so it was a group exercise to erect it.  So, team effort and one hour later, we had the 4-person tent up, only just enough space, but much excitement from the boys.  They wanted to sleep in it with their friend who's spent much of the day with us.

So Gill and I got it ready for them to spend the night there, and by 11.45pm, all was quiet there... apart from the duck in the next garden quacking intermittently.

, , , , , |

Saturday 22nd May 10

An incredibly busy day, despite a medium lie in and almost unbearable heat.

I have work tomorrow so I went to put my shaver on charge, but Gill has reorganised the bedroom and the flex to plug it in has gone missing. She spent quite a bit of the day sorting through things trying to find it. It might be that I just have more facial hair than I prefer when I do tomorrow's gig. She's felt frustrated for much of the day.

So whilst Gill was doing things inside, I was busy with foodplants in the garden. I planted 9 beans and 2 cauliflowers and a butternut squash in one of the raised beds. I filled another load of planters and put in a variety of stuff I already had, but then mid-afternoon I cycled over to Brunswick Organic Nursery in Bishopthorpe and spent Gill's two £10 vouchers she got from York Rotters for making a cake or cakes. I got 4 tomatoes, 6 squash, a melon (I've never grown melon before), some basil, 6 purple sprouting broccoli, 6 calabrese and 8 sweetcorn.

I cycled home carefully and slowly and didn't bounce the plants too much. I planted the melon in a tub in the conservatory. I put several beans by the side of the shared path, where they can grow up against my log piles, which won't be used over the summer so they'll make a good support, well I hope so. Gill thinks our neighbour won't be happy about it but I think he won't mind. They aren't in the way.

I had tea upstairs in the bedroom as the family were all wallowing in Dr Who. I had a basic grain and veg dish with crispy-fried Oyster mushrooms. Lovely. I listened to a bit of Tracey Smith's DJ-ing on her Hospital Radio show on Apple AM, and when that finished, I half dozed and half played Scrabble on facebook.

Then I got up and had a solar powered shower... the panel has got the cylinder up to 85 degrees Celsius today, and the shower was lovely and used no gas. Great!

Later, I watched Michael Moore's film on Capitalism in America. Watch this and you'll understand why I do not support the Capitalist status quo. It is a system which generates a huge gap between the rich and poor, squanders resources, peddles false dreams such as stuff makes you happy, more stuff makes you more happy, and it is just wrong. I'm not a Communist wanting everybody to be equal, as Communism didn't work well either. I want a Co-operative Democratic Green revolution.

, , , , , , |

Thursday 21st May 09

Up early as got a lot to try to do today. First had a hunt through various bags and piles of paper, to try to find my Oyster Card, for travelling in London. Did find my London map, though, which is good.

Gill took our youngest to school and went on to the dentist, I went down to the Nationwide to get a cheque cancelled. I had to wait quite a long time, but did eventually get this done. On the way out of there, I met my friend John Forrester from the Stockholm Environment Institute and had a nice chat, then off to Bishopthorpe to the Brunswick Organic Nursery to spend my vouchers (for volunteering with York Rotters) and when there met my friend Marit, and again, had a good chat. She's building an accessible allotment at the Glen Allotments in Tang Hall, a good project.

I found a range of veg plants; squashes, courgettes, cucumbers, calabrese, cauliflowers and tomatoes, just enough to fully pack-out my trailer, even so I cycled slowly home so not to bounce them around too much.

Home for just after 1pm, enjoyed lunch and did a quick email before getting on with sorting stuff out and getting ready for my trip this afternoon/evening.

I left the house soon after 3 and got to the station in very good time to get the 3.54 to London. Had a nice chat to an inorganic chemistry student called Michaela, and then to a chap involved in railway signalling, and soon we were in King's Cross. Thameslink was easy to find ad I got the 6.24 to Crofton Park, and chatted to a researcher in mental health. At Nunhead, a drunk with an aggression problem caused a 20 minute delay, but there was general good humour in the carriage about it. I found Lisa's house very easily, having used Googlemaps yesterday to check it out. Good for 'Streetview'!

Lisa's 15 year old son had made a lasagne, I'd taken some squash soup down, as well as gifts of home made sweet red pepper paprika, pea beans to grow and some dried fruit. I did a little balloon workshop with Lisa's 7 year old daughter, and had a very pleasant evening. One of the things we did was to go out into the back garden and Lisa watered some recently installed plants, and behind the house is some railway land, on the edge of a cutting, covered in trees... a pretty wild area, which her son and his mates use to escape from Mum... a clearing for a campfire, lots of dead wood around. Whilst we were there, we heard a lot of squarking and I spotted a colourful (Green?) Woodpecker leaving a hole in a dead tree, and obviously the noise was a clutch of babies. They've also seen foxes there. A lovely resource to have access to.

, , , , , |

Monday 12th May 08

I got up at 8 to take the children to school, it is SATs for my eldest and he's quite stressed, although the grumpy behaviour this morning was mainly from the other one! But they both got to school on time and I got back to a relieved Gill.

Got a phone call from CVS who are putting on a conference about building (http://www.priorystreetcentre.org.uk/foundations.html) and I've been asked to present a 20 minute chunk on energy performance certificates, carbon audits and environmental standards. This will require quite a bit of research, but it will be good for me as it's not my specialism but of course, it is very interesting.

Gill went out to town and I spent quite a bit of time at the computer... but also lit the stove, much to Gill's annoyance when she got back... but I had a load of grapes to get dried and if they sit there moist, they'll go mouldy. I also had a load of washing up to do so I needed the hot water. Enjoyed lunch and then prepared to go to Brunswick Organic Nursery in Bishopthorpe to spend my £10 reward which I got for doing such a lot of voluntary work for one of the organisations I help out. I rang them up to find out if they had vegetable plants, and their opening times. So I cycled through to them, passing the place where Ruby was knocked off her bike and killed... there were lots of flowers and a 'graffiti board' with messages. Very sad. I got to BON and found several greenhouses with various plants, rows of perennials, and quite a few veg plants.. so I got some assorted squash, courgette, cucumber, tomato and broccoli plants, worth £16.50, but I only had to pay cash for some of it, thanks to my voucher.

(Hey, did you see what I did in this paragraph, for I think the first time in this blog? I highlighted Brunswick and made it into a link.... something I've learned about through my paid blog. On their website, the icon looks a little bit like a paperclip, and I'm guessing that on Blogger too, the icon is to look like a paperclip... it doesn't much!)

I met a pleasant woman at Brunswick, called Anna, who was waiting for her husband to come back from a job interview with Dr. Sentamu, as her hubby is a minister and is hoping to work for Dr. John. We had a chat about soil firstly, then composting, then credit unions, then autism... she was very chatty and nice.

Careful cycle ride back, not as fast as I usually go, as had the trailer full of delicate plants, so got to school just on time to pick up the kiddies.

When I came home I did a load more riddling, this time some pretty dry compost, very mature from a dalek which I'd topped with turf, and used the flat chicken-wire riddle where I rub the lumps through by hand... resulting in a large pile of ready to use potting compost, a mix of compost and loam, lovely!

A late tea. Watched a programme on a dinosaur being excavated and examined, as it had been preserved with skin and some tissue still in place, kind of mummified prior to fossilisation.

Enjoyed a very frank exchange with K on Skype, well over an hour of chat, very deep and satisfying conversation.

, , , , |