Beauchene Evolution

End of 2013, we all like to look back at the year, I thought we'd look back over a couple of years to see the evolution of our small-holding. Sometimes you can forget how much you've achieved if you are doing it all the time. Taking a moment to reflect helps us to see the bigger picture. These first images are from 2011. They show the main field grazed extensively by herbivores.

These next pictures are from Spring 2012.

And these are from Summer 2012.

Spring 2013.

Summer 2013.

So there you have a very simple look at some of the evolution of our small=holding in Beauchene.  Do something in your new year, anything, but make sure you reconnect with nature, she keeps us alive.

Powerdown Immediately

"Climate change is advancing at an incredible speed. We know we should do something, but we lack the political will to do what it takes to hold it to 2°C. UN committees are now being counseled to prepare for 4°C of warming. To keep it survivable, there's got to be a powerdown -- starting today." - http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-12-09/powerdown-let-s-talk-about-it

Let this be a clarion call to make changes.  ANY changes you can.  If you don't voluntarily make these changes now when you have the luxury of time and money to support them, you may end up being forced to change, like so many other of the mass unprepared.

Technology fantasists, get over your overly-optimistic belief in the ability of human ingenuity to solve all ills.  Rare earth metals, those minerals that you need for your hi-tech solutions like solar panels are rapidly declining, think again!

Green-technology fantasists, swapping from gas-guzzling cars to electric cars reduces your CO2 emissions? Think again the majority of CO2 emissions come in the manufacturing process and how is the electricity generated to power your care? Probably by coal, gas or oil fired power stations!

Switch to hand held, durable and resilient tools.

Switch to growing your own food, 5% or 10% or 50%, NOW.

Switch to community resilience.  Get to know your neighbours.  Share your resources.  Share your journeys.

There is only one conversation we should be having and that is how to make our future livable for our kids, non-human species and the wider Earth-wide ecosystem.

Our little oasis of diversity

(Guest post by Jessica Palmer)

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms either within a species, or species within a larger ecosystem. Why is this important?

Increased biodiversity increases productivity because each species has an important role to play in a healthy ecosystem. A larger biodiversity within a species will help it survive disasters because some of those variations will help it adapt to the situation. If each specimen in a species was exactly the same it would not allow for a fast recovery and would lead to higher extinction rates. Biodiversity also helps sustainability and variation of our crops.


 It is well known that many of the habitats for grassland butterflies have been damaged by farming and pesticides as well as climate change causing a decline in these species. These wonderful creatures are not only beautiful to look at but also help those busy bees with the pollination of our fruits and vegetables. We are trying to do our part by leaving many areas as natural as possible and having a varied site including grass land, woodland, stream and agricultural areas.

I have not spent as much time as I would have liked to capture our beautiful wildlife but here are a few examples. We had a beautiful swallowtail butterfly but it eluded my camera. We had common ones like small and large whites, admirals etc. Unfortunately I only captured the most common ones.

Peacock  

Small Tortoiseshell

Painted Lady

a type of skipper I think

 and this special one who is giving me some trouble to identify.

Please help identify and correct me if I am wrong on the others.  As our little Freya is often running by my side scattering the flying ones so the caterpillars are easier to capture. 

We had:
Swallowtail (Papilio Machaion if I am not mistaken)

Cinnabar Moth

Orgyia Antiqua Moth

again I can't identify this one so help please

The damselflies love the water as did the dragonflies but they were to fast for my focusing. 

Here are a few poor snaps to show the 4 most commonly seen at our stream.

 
 

Toastie Start to July

This first week is due to see temperatures soaring here in Northern France. It's an explosive growth time, I submit some updates of how the small-holding is coming along, with a bit of a focus on our varied Kale beds... for Kristen. Freya and I couldn't spend too much time in the poly-tunnel, but you can see the tomatoes doing marvelously on the left and Kale on the right.

Lacinato Rainbow Kale

Halbhoher Kale

A mix of both Lacinato and Halbhoher Kale, so why the large amount of Kale you may be thinking, well that's a very good question.  Kristen Beddard, the face, brains and driving force behind The Kale Project (http://thekaleproject.com/) found us, care of Olivier Cappaert, the face, brains and driving force behind Excuse My French (https://www.facebook.com/ExcuseMyFR).  The project has a simple objective, "to bring the healthiest green vegetable to Paris".

True Siberian Kale

True Siberian

Red Ursa Kale

Red Ursa Kale

The nutrient values on this incredible super-food are simply staggering: in 100 grams of cooked, strained and unsalted Kale you will find (USDA recommended daily amount in parenthesis) Vitamin A (85%), Vitamin B1 (5%), Vitamin B2 (6%), Vitamin B3 (3%), Vitamin B6 (11%), Vitamin B9 (3%), Vitamin C (49%), Vitamin E (6%), Vitamin K (778%), Calcium (7%), Iron (7%), Magnesium (5%), Manganese (20%), Phosphorous (4%), Potassium (5%), Sodium (2%) and Zinc (3%)
Nero Di Toscano Kale

Delphinium

Foxglove

The clover is awash with countless bumble bees. The sound is so soothing, I honestly don't think I have ever seen so many chunky bumble bees in one spot.

A truly remarkable creature, we never get bored of watching, listening to or taking pictures of bees!

Strawberries a plenty too. This is the fifth straight day of picking them and we have been cropping pretty much this same amount daily... jealous much?

They say that you are what you eat, well Freya is aiming to become a massive juicy strawberry.

She is now starting to understand the seasonality of fruit and vegetables. We refuse to buy strawberries out of season, which is often hard to explain to 3-year old, but when there are more strawberries then this little one could possibly eat, she gets it and can look forward to natures bounty.