Solar Dehydrator

Step 1: Find an old kitchen unit, knock out the bottom and attach legs

Step 2: Find a couple of old bee frames coincidentally fitting your kitchen cabinet.  Ask your wife or your cross dressing boyfriend for an old pair of tights and stretch over bee frames.  Take some old bits of mirror to put on the sides to reflect light from various angles.

Step 3: put a glass pane across and place on a sunny south facing spot.

Within minutes temperatures rose to 45 C.  The first experimental batch of courgette slices for drying, we've got plenty of them at the moment, so no great loss if it doesn't work.  We're anxiously awaiting the results tomorrow... and next maybe figs... or pear slices... prunes?

In other news Shaun and Molly from Texas made themselves at home in the new caravan and building some steps down from the caravan to the nearest tomato bed:

 and a flood defense dike along the top of our land:

amongst other things...

Farmer Heiko strikes again

Move that thing

After finally moving the few cubic metres of earth tp make room we moved that thing into place.  It was quite an adventure, but I better not go into detail in case the local traffic police read my blog.

Suufice to say that the caravan was given to us by our friends Sarah and Alex, who inheritited it with their house some 30 km up the valley.  The previous owners had left a load of stuff in it, which in turn has now passed into our possession.  Some of this stuff is and will be useful, others bits less so.  Some of the things you may spot on the little slide show below, including numerous board games, pots and pans as well as camping crockery and cutlery, various types of glue, hundreds of light bulbs, bedding, towels, various shoes, some my size, some Susan's size, some someone else's size, 2 wooly hats, 2 pairs of wooly socks, 2 baseball caps, one of them inscribed 'Spice Boy', 2 pairs of brand new swimming goggles, a set of party hats, a beach ball, an iron board and iron (I've never ironed anything in my life!), a pair of half length corduroy shorts my size, a catering size can of instant coffee approximately 37 years old (I hate Necafe), 27 packets of painkiller, 17 bottles of suntan lotion plus numerous creams, potions and lotions (ask Susan about the details...)...

So Sarah and Alex, if you recognise any of the above as unintentionally left, say so now and if anyone else use for one or the other of these items, we may have some spare.  Ask for details.

Well, we moved that thing, now we just have to clean it and tidy up.  Cousin Barti is off on a well deserved holiday next week and is going to be replaced by two helpXers who will be the first to stay in there.

Farmer Heiko on the economy

Courgettes, corn, curcubita and clouds

Just a quick update on the garden.  I was a way for a week during which we had some much needed rain.  Now back we're hard at work again.  Tomorrow we'll be getting the caravan, more pictures of that then.  In the meantime veg production really kick started.

We have courgettes:

...and courgettes:

...and some.... courgettes:

The Greek corn is really thriving in our conditions.  Much better than what I have sown a couple of terraces higher up.

One of the 'tipis' of Buenos Aires beans is growing upwards rapidly, whilst the other one right next door misteriously died en-masse:

...and this giant cucubita, presumably some kind of pumpkin, sprung spontaneously from where the compost heap was last year.

and for the final 'C' a sunset from the other day when we had a full eclipse of the moon.  As the picture of a dark moon in the dark sky was a tad boring I'll show you one in the other direction with a pretty cloud. :)

Farmer Heiko on Food terror

And because it was so much fun, here the second instalment of Farmer Heiko's adventures.  Excuse the difficult to understand accent of Conspiracy Cousin, he's foreign.

New series of Farmer Heiko animations

The long awaited rain has finally arrived, so I played around a bit on YouTube and have come with a new irregular series, where Farmer Heiko will comment on current issues.  Hope you enjoy it. :)