More to see in Seymour

We went off to the Seymour Alternative Farming Festival on Friday.  Wow!  We managed to fill in the whole day and didn't see everything, so we went back yesterday.  

We left our run a bit late for the poultry pavilion on Friday but we managed to make a few purchases yesterday.  I will post about that separately.  I also purchased a very light chicken tractor to put some chooks in the vegetable garden.  It has wheels and can be moved about easily so that the chooks can do their work without access to all areas.  It will be delivered in a couple of weeks.

I managed to get my garlic for planting later in the year. Twenty one good (but not enormous) sized bulbs for $30.  That seemed reasonable for organic garlic.

I also purchased a tub of bio char.  I had done a bit of reading on this previously and it sounds miraculous.  It improves the soil biology. fertility, increases yeilds and the effects are long lasting.  I have included an interesting clip from the BBC that I consider is really worth watching.

 Click here for a rather technical but interesting explanation of the advantages of bio char.  

If you click this link you will find a simpler explanation of its advantages and also how to make some yourself. 

We also sat in on four seminars over the two days.  The one on building with straw bales got The Cook all fired up about building a new house.  It's OK, her enthusiasm only lasted for 10 minutes.  The second one on sustainable houses was interesting too.  We also heard most of a talk on sustainable garden design.  It wasn't anything I hadn't heard before but confirms that we should all be trying to make some green changes to the way we live.
It made me feel like I am on the right track.

The best talk was by Meg Miller who is the publisher of the magazine, Grass Roots.  She talked about her pet subject ... poultry.  I learned a lot, especially about parasites.  I was able to go and find some stalls that were selling organic treatments.  Again, I will blog about that at a later date.

I also had a long chat with a man about bees and now have some contacts to follow up. I managed to detour around the Italian Gardener who was selling seeds (so I wouldn't be tempted to buy any more).  There were goats and alpacas and boutique cattle and sheep.  The people manning the stalls were happy to talk and give advice.  There were also a lot of commercial stalls selling all manner of things and a man who makes tee-pees big enough to live in.

We spoke to several companies about solar panels for the roof and were talked into an assessment for today.  I will NOT be signing up without lots more research.  

I will keep you up to date with this matter.

To finish, I thought I might share a couple of special photos with you.
I actually considered buying one of these in case The Cook ever goes near the chainsaw again.
Can't you see her head sticking out the right hand side, looking like she is in the stocks?

As you have probably noticed, I like to keep my identity a bit of a mystery.  However, I just have to tell you that I posed for this sculpture made from recycled machine parts.

  You should take particular notice of my firm buttocks and muscles of steel.
Is it any wonder I managed 
to break that stainless steel fork?