http://blog.shadoxhurst.com Adventures into the world of blogging Thu, 14 May 2009 20:20:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My first attempt at an 'alll grain' beer was on 04/05/09.  I had collected together enough equipment and, foolishly, made a beer with out doing a dry (or rather wet) run.  This resulted in the hose from the imersion cooler bursting off and water spraying all over the inside of ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=37 Having tried kit brewing for a few months I have decided that it is high time that I started to brew from scratch.  I have a cool box in the shed that is about to be converted into a mash tun and a boiler and new FV in the post.  ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=34 I called in at the allotment on my way to work this afternoon only to find that most of my plants looked either dead or very sorry for themselves.  From the state of the leaves I believe that there may have been a bit of frost recently that I didn't ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=33 The banana plant that I thought that I had killed over winter has put up three new shoots around the dead central plant. and is doing very well.  Here are a couple of photos of the plant that I took a week ago. 1147511479 The new seeds that I bought have also ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=32 The last few days have seen some fantastic weather, which has helped the weeds grow very well on the allotment.  However, in the back garden and shed the plants are coming on very well.  Since the chillis have been under lights they have come on very well and will be ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=31 Although I thought that this year on the allotment I would experiment with raspberries, I have branched out and have bought some quinoa and amaranth seeds (from www.realseeds.co.uk). I know that I am not going to be able to produce enough grains to provide for my family, but I ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=30 My chilli seeds that I planted months ago have sprouted but not really done much since then so they are now in the shed under a couple of 2foot strip lights, as are the chilli plants that I boughton ebay (dorset naga, red habanero, birds eye & scotch bonnet) and ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=29 As spring is really taking hold I have started the task of taking on the weeds at the allotment and after several mornings digging I feel that I have made a good start. Currently I have planted some broad beans, onions, shallots, garlic, raspberries and some potatoes (mayan gold ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=28 'On Call' at work can generally mean one of to things firstly it can be a lot of work for not enough pay or secondly it can be a lot of getting paid a bit for sitting around, drinking coffee and surfing the internet. Fortunately today falls into the ... http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=27 Well,  I now have a cycle computer with a heart rate monitor attached to it and on the way to work one day this week I managed to get a maximum of 200 beats per min!! http://blog.shadoxhurst.com/?p=26