A week at CAT

I have just got back from a week at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in very wet Wales where I was attending a course on renewable energy. I learned a lot about solar hot water, photo voltaics, wind and hydro turbines. I was trying to find out what might work here at Sorley and we are going to think very seriously about both solar hot water and PV panels. The government has just announced a new set of feed in tariffs (probably about 36p/unit) for decentralised generating that will come in from next April so the economics of the whole thing suddenly make a lot more sense. A 2kW PV array would give about 50% of what the average home uses.

Watch this space!

CAT is a rather strange place - veggie food and more eco-warriors that you can shake a stick at! Some of them need a good kick up the @rse, but they actually do some really goood stuff.

I'll Bee blowed!

There were some strange goings on in Kingsbridge last night. A group of ladies of "a certain age" decided they would dress up as bumble bees and parade through the streets. You might just recognise one of them!

Actually, it was the WI campaiging to save our bees, in the Kingsbridge carnival. They got a second in their class, too!

Darren Clarke eat ya heart out!

I have never grown cucumbers before, but I thought that, if Dazza could do it, it couldn't really be that difficult! I must admit I cheated a bit by buying some plants rather than growing them from seed but they have shot up and they have started producing already. We had the first one in a salad at lunchtime and it was really rather tasty. If all the little ones mature, we are going to have a glut so we have been looking up all the cucumber recipies we can find. Over the next few weeks, it looks as though we are going to have to get used to cucumber and radish salad, spicy cucumber, cucumber chutney and even cucumber in our G&Ts!

Digger makes a delivery

Sorley Tempted fresh produce has really come on-stream in the last few weeks. We have had lots of really nice peas, broad beans, lettuces, new potatoes and strawberries. This is Digger helping with a recent consignment of lettuces.

We have also had our foraging hats on and we have made a batch of Elderflower "champagne". This should be interesting provided the bottles don't explode before we get the chance to sample it!

On the boating front, we have been out in the estuary once in Puffin (with Digger, Jo and Steve) and Tiny Dancer is now back in the water in Frogmore creek and is pretty much ready to go. All I need now is a willing crew!