Rennovation

Well the fedge has been planted today. Willow, between 2 and 3 rows deep. To make it dog proof I’ve added a wire fence (provided as leftovers from a local farm) nailed to a few wooden posts and a gate from Scat’s in Newbury. The posts are not straight, but it’s dog proof and when the Willow starts to take it should hide the posts just nicely.

It’s already created a nice screen bordering off the upper half of the garden from the rest. The neighbours were also very curios as to why I put lots of dead sticks in the ground. In the few weeks it's been in the ground we have had quite a bit of green leaf growth and it's already looking very good (see second picture below).

Lastly, we have used up some of the spare in a bit of a dead space to create a bit of shelter from the sun. It's a south facing line, so we are going to let these grow a bit in height. The dog has access to dig up and eat these if she wished, but seems not too interested. She has bent a few down by sitting/sleeping on them though.

I've given up trying to get a wood pellet stove. The main suppliers out there are only interested in big business and refer to 'local installers'. Those local installers are just about impossible to get hold of and when you do their prices are in a different league. Mark up's on the products are incredible and labour is twice the cost of a standard wood burning or multifuel stove (although just about the same effort is required to install a wood pellet stove).

Supply is also a little too unpredictable. A few companies might be able to supply me, but only in bulk, and a few more can supply small bags, but at a cost which equates to twice that of coal. I want to be leading edge with my sustainable approach, but not at the cost of living essentials, or making the cost inappropriate for anyone else to repeat.

So the hunt is now on for an alternative. At the moment burning wood (logs, compressed products) seems to be one of the better options.