Homeland-Scotland

Showing Tag: "compost" (Show all posts)

Germination - 1st March 2010

Posted by John McKenna on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, In : Crofting 


The first seeds of 2010. Up on Sunday 28 February. Sowed on Tuesday 23 February in a John Innes soil-based seed compost.



Two types of tomatoes, one red and one yellow: don’t know the variety as I saved seeds from fruits bought at the Stornoway farmers market last summer. Medium size. Will need to ask Les Brown of Balanstruthal, who grew them in his polytunnels.

Also, got a companion plant, tagetes or French marigolds, started. Again, I am not certain of the variety. Saved seed from my own sto...


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Birds Do It - 16th Oct 2009

Posted by John McKenna on Friday, October 16, 2009, In : Crofting 

One of my regular duties is cleaning the hen house. Scraping poo off roosting bars may seem a dismal task, but honestly, the shit is it.  Along with stray feathers and bits of straw, it goes on the compost heap. Then it works a sort of horticultural alchemy with the green kitchen waste, shrub trimmings, grass clippings, shredded seaweed and some partially rotted horse manure from the other side of Lewis. Over six months or so, the concoction heats up and rots down to become among the best soi...
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About Me


Barry Shelby Barry Shelby, American-gone-native-Scotsperson, Journalist , Photographer, Author and....Crofter located now at Earshader on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Barry, based for years in Glasgow, is now with his wife Elizabeth on the Islands off the North-West Coast of Scotland.

 

Lewis (Scottish Gaelic: Leòdhas,  also Isle of Lewis) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides (an archipelago) of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is 683 square miles (1,770 km2).

Lewis is, in general, the lower lying part of Lewis and Harris, with the other part, Harris, being more mountainous. The flatter, more fertile land means Lewis contains the only town, Stornoway and three-quarters of the population of the Western Isles. Beyond human habitation, the island's diverse habitats are home to an assortment of flora and fauna, such as the golden eagle, red deer and seals and are recognised in a number of conservation areas.

Lewis is of Presbyterian tradition with a rich history, having once been part of the Norse Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. Today, life is very different to elsewhere in Scotland with Sabbath observance, the Gaelic language and peat cutting retaining more importance than elsewhere. Lewis has a rich cultural heritage as can be seen from its myths and legends as well as the local literary and musical traditions.

 

(source Wikipedia)

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