Free-Range Living

'Freerange Future -----?'

Windy times just recently on the micro-holding (small smallholding), with several gales experienced - rain too - quite a lot of flooding in various parts of the UK.  Not quite so extreme as in America just now though - minus over fifty with windchill in some states and with heavy snow - survival time, and best of luck to them. Hereabouts in the winter of 1981/2 it got to nearly minus thirty, which was pretty damn cold. Wonder if the snow in the U.S is a good thing, acting as insulation - an 'igloo' effect - ? The wind cleared the late-clinging leaves from the trees to then create the winter landscape, somehow symbol-ed by a rare eerie silent formation flight of snow white swans in the late-afternoon dying winter sky....

 'Freerange flying ----'

Apparently the current birds conundrum is solved - many have been contacting the relevant authorities asking where the birds were, and the answer proved to be as suspected here - i.e. that the season 'jumped' a month or so later and there's  feed in the wild late-on for them. They're about now, though, (mid Jan), and looking for grub. All possible foliage has been preserved here, so the thinking is that this small patch of ground (half an acre total) may be home to more then the normal number of birds, in which case supplementary feed is of the essence.

The leek problem mentioned in the Dec. piece has also been clarified, and not necessarily in the best light. Apparently a leek 'foe' in the form of a leek moth has worked its way up from more southerly parts and is now hitting leek crops hereabouts, leaving little brown grubs which then damage them in their eating of them. For some thirty-odd years, the leek crop has been a dependable winter veg crop, seemingly without problems.

Not so now, more's the pity, and steps will have to be taken, and even worse, it seems that the onion crop too could be under threat. Growing 'organically' without chemical inputs means that the 'annihilation' route is not an option, the two main 'thwarts' being covering the crop with, say, fleece, when the moths are laying their eggs (April/May and July/Aug) and/or practising 'digital genocide' on the grubs, as has to be done on the caterpillars attacking the greens. Ah well, forewarned is forearmed ----.

'Un-free range----?'

Part of 'freeranging' could be said is to be able to 'fully explore the self', and part has been to 'survive and thrive' in a 'demanding' culture seemingly geared to a 'big is best, might is right' type of modus operandi, not necessarily then the most suited to the nurture of the 'small' entity that is the 'fuller individual' ---? If this is so, is such a freerange 'counter strategy' still necessary at the beginning of 2014? Banks and energy companies have been fined for 'mis-selling' practices, and new practices and codes of conducts have been introduced for banks and media concerns, for instance.

Against this, 'big bucks' bonuses are still with us, together with good pay increases for senior managers, whilst so-called 'ordinary folk' get little in the way of pay increases, yet quite a bit in the way of rising costs - travel, rents and energy, for instance. To many, the playing field must presumably appear to be getting ever less level, and there's the added pressure of predicted substantial food price rises on the horizon. A particular added factor relevant here is that interest rates on savings have about halved, knocking yearly income quite a bit. All in all, it could seem reasonable, therefore, to suggest that individual self-protective 'freerange' measures and practices may well be needed for the future as for the past.

'Freerange fixes ---?'

Attention then has turned to what could be done here on the eco micro-holding - done better or done in terms of adding to. The natural first phase would seem to be to make some sort of evaluation of the current situation and then to identify useful 'change' measures. Food production this last year has been a wee bit patchy, and could do with a bit of improvement. Hopefully this will come by paying special attention to onion and leek production, both staples of the veg patch - the normal expectation, for instance, being to produce all the yearly onion requirement - and taking anti leek moth protection measures, plus generally paying a bit more time and attention to the various crops - a bit more 'input' to hopefully get better 'output', and also to raise short-term fertility by introducing some horse manure (free for collection) in addition to the normal compost application.

This will move away from the 'permaculture' system (most/all soil nutrition being found within the growing system), but production will still be 'biological', and it may be time for an application of 'pragmatism' - ? Making more/better use of home-grown produce could also help 'counteract' the colder winds of economic 'tightening', and to that end a lot more soup (normal lunchtime fare) has been made so far this winter out of home-grown produce.

 'Freerange frugals ---- '

Travel costs are maybe in excess of what they could be, dint of having two vehicles on the road, which to serve two people could be a bit over the top (no public transport hereabouts). They are both in the 'older' categories (the eldest, the small runabout, is coming up to fourteen years, but still, as they say, 'sound as a pound'), and the combined yearly mileage of the two is not that great at under 12,000 miles per year. One 'change' option would be to go to running one 'economic' vehicle and then having, say, an electric bike as the second, which would be a feasible working arrangement. Or even better, depending on cost, finding a little low-cost basic electric pick-up to run as the second vehicle - more research required.

 More research is also needed to investigate windpower options, on the basis that energy would seem to be a relatively scarce resource probably going to get scarcer and therefore costlier for the future. The limitation of the solar production system already installed is that there's no short-term storage facility for production during the day to be then used in the evening, for instance, and that production in the winter months is considerably lower than the summer months.

The woodstove partly offsets that, generating hot water in the winter months, but an 'augmentary' windpower installation may be still worth looking at. There appears to be two basic styles of domestic windpower application: one in which the electricity produced is fed into the national grid system and attracts similar 'FITS' payments as the solar systems, and the producers can use the power generated for their own use, and a 'stand alone' option in which the wind generated electricity is fed into batteries, and exists independently of the national grid system.

 The big plus of going for the independent system appears to be that there could be a 'freakier' weather future, with more disruption to grid supplies of electricity - ? Having a separate, independent supply could therefore be useful in terms of being a reserve supply, as well as helping to counteract rising grid electricity costs. There may also be a device available, as there is for the solar installation, which diverts any windpower electricity not being used, automatically to water heating, which would be useful, particularly in the summer when the woodstove's not running, and as of course would the added independence such an installation might bring – good, independent 'freeranger' appeal.

The final 'review' area has been the yearly expenditure on the static holiday caravan near the mid-Wales coast. It's sited some four miles inland on a smaller farm-based well-run site, and costing roughly half the cost of having it on one of the bigger sites, but nevertheless it's 'luxury' expenditure. Or is it - could a 'bolthole' be even partly a necessity in terms of retreat from a culture which may not be a particularly 'good fit' - ? It does mean too, for instance, that a break can be well tailored to needs - about four/five days is generally the ticket here. Some, of course, might say how come a retreat is needed from the green oasis that is the micro-holding, situated in a quiet, peaceful and pleasantly scenic part of the country, but a break does 'recharge' the batteries, and then, there is the sea close by-----.    The cost per break, including travel costs is reasonable , and the experience enjoyable and useful, so for now at least, it's not going to be 'hit on the head' - a little of what is fancied ---.

 'Freerange futures ---'

Quite an interesting exercise to do, to see what can be done in the next period,  boosting freerange heart and spirit to take on the challenges of life as it's currently known - after of course, a nice little bit of mid-winter freerange semi-hibernation. Not something necessarily unique or original – many people operating competently and self-responsibly are likely to be appraising their own (unique) situations and making decisions to protect and preserve their and their dependants' futures. Maybe they'll be swinging more towards Kevin Mcloud's sentiments on UK tv the other night – 'making and doing' rather than 'buying and consuming'. Maybe 'making do', even ---- ?