Urgent information about FIT (feed in tariff)

Information from an accidently published document from the Energy Saving Trust;

If you are thinking of installing Solar PV in the near future be aware that the government is proposing to drop the FIT on systems installed after 12^th December 2011 to 21p per unit!!

Second crop of figs

Our largest fig tree is ripening a second crop of fruit this year, I have picked five ripe figs so far.  This is the first year I have ever seen this happen!   has anyone else experienced the same thing?

Late courgettes and beans

The courgettes we planted in pots in august and then put into the poly tunnel when some tomatoes plants came out are now cropping well, producing a courgette each per day.  I planted the late crop of purple climbing french beans in ever corner I could find in and out doors including some places in the poly tunnel where the cucumbers had finished. The indoor beans are now cropping and the outdoor beans just starting, as long as the frost holds off we will have tender autumn beans this year.

Cutting the super willows

Yesterday we harvested the superwillows planted three years ago.  They would have shaded out the solar PV we are putting on the roof of the workshop and it was time to harvest anyway.  We cut a good load of wood for burning, some cuttings for planting and the rest was chipped by our WWOOFer Ales and put round the raspberries as a mulch.

This blog sums up a lot of what I have been thinking about our economic future

http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-10-09/destroying-dreams-peak-oil-way

Start of the timber harvest.

It was an important day in the life of our wood yesterday.   We took a half ton (green) oak log to a friend with a large saw and he cut it into 75mm planks.   Sounds easy when you say it like that doesn't it!  The reality was two hours of experimenting using an engine hoist to get the log into our (newly bought) trailer, pulling the trailer onto the road using our old tractor and a nervous trip in the van to the boatyard where the saw was.

Anyway, now we have all this lovely wood!!! Steve helped by cutting the planks into rails to go onto the workshop roof to take the solar PV panels we are planning to install there and the rest of the wood should re-appear out of Steve's workshop as beautiful furniture sometime in the future.
This should be the start of many more trips to the saw as we convert our oak and chestnut buts into saleable posts and planks.  Yippee!!!

Permaculture Association LAND learning centre success

Rosie and I are celebrating this week passing our assessment to be a Permaculture Association LAND learning centre.This means that groups can obtain funding from the Permaculture Association to come and visit us here and see what we are up to.  We are looking forward to having (and learning from) lots of interesting visitors.