Going Viral On Instagram - 3.3 Million Views!

 So my short, 7 second clip, on Instagram went a little viral. I mentioned it before when talking about my gooseberry scoops. Since then it's just built momentum. 3.3million views so far and counting...

This has meant that I've sold lots of gooseberry scoops. As many as I could make really, which has been great as often June can be a pretty quiet month as far as sales are concerned. Although I'm not sure how many more I have left in me this week!

The Most Important Bit Of Beekeeping Equipment

So along with the beekeeping trainings course I've been going to every week, I've also been slowly acquiring what we need to actually keep bees. 

I've ordered a hive that I need to assemble (I'll also be making some), a smoker and feeder. But I've also got the most important thing - 

 

Some bee suits for the children. They're keen to get involved and I'm keen to have them help me. So I thought it should be one of the first things we got. That way if we do stumble upon a swam we'll be able to gather it up and give it a home. 

Both girls seem really keen with the beekeeping, the boy not so much! But it will be up to them if they get involved. The girls seem to have the idea of using any wax for making wax wraps to sell (which will go alongside what I do really nicely), and hopefully they'll come up with some other projects as well. 

Hopefully I'll get to assemble my hive soon, it's been a busy couple of weeks with orders and talks, but hopefully I'll get to do some smallholding jobs the next few days and this may be one of them. I think the children might like to assemble the hive with me as well. 
 

A Trip To Wales

Over half term we popped to Wales for a few days break. Always nice to get away as a family. 

 

Gooseberry Harvest Scoops

As you know I'm always making or tinkering with something, and my berry harvester I made last year is no exception. It was great for berries and currants, but for gooseberries the extra fingers were a little pointless.

So I decided to start designing it again, but like I'd never seen a normal berry harvester. 

So I went to the workshop with some design criteria and started making....

1Rat Proof 3-Bay Compost Bin

I've wanted some good compost bins ever since I ripped out my last lot that were rotting away. 

The last two years I've just made piles and let them rot down. Yes, you do get compost, but it's messy and not ideal. 

So this time I've decided to go all out. Meet my three bay, rat proof, compost bin.