All About Newport

WWW.COOKSHOPNEWPORT.CO.UK 01952 825800 Open Sundays throughout December. Late night opening in December (see our window for details) Merry Christmas & thank you for your custom in 2015 Sue, Hannah, Peta, Beck & Becky Next Demo Day Friday 4th December (more details in store) Christmas Opening at Cookshop Newport Visit us today! 64a High Street, Newport, Shropshire TF10 7BA For everything you need to prepare, cook and serve fabulous food. ALL ABOUT MAGAZINE | FEATURE 5 Winter’s a coming... by Mike Robin at www.freerange-living.co.uk Although the mild autumn could lull the senses, winter’s round the corner and now’s the time when suitable preparations are the order of the day. To this end, there’s been a good sawing session of wood from one of the woodpiles, topping up the logstore in the micro-holding’s (small smallholding) ‘logs-istics’ centre - a satisfying sight, and good to know the winter’s fuel is ‘ready and waiting’ - bring it on. Clearing up at the organic veg area has also been an autumn activitya heavy spade shaving off the self-sown weed material - all grist to the compost mill, and leaving a pristine soil area on which come February, wood ash and compost will be added. The bi-yearly applications of woodash over quite a few years now seems to have had a long-term beneficial effect. Normally where intensive production of veg occurs, periodic lime applications are needed to maintain the right ‘PH’ for growing, and ‘ to keep the soil sweet’, but the mildly alkali woodash has done that job, besides providing potash fertiliser. Many of the soil problems experienced in the earlier years appear now to have disappeared – onion white rot, club root, root fly, for instance, which has been quite a ‘woodash’ benefit, and presumably after some years of such treatment and organic production, the soil is pretty healthy – not a bad situation, courtesy of the fertiliser plant that is the woodstove . Reserve capacity can be useful on the ‘security’ front, and particularly in harsher conditions which of course winter can bring. To this end a small generator has been the latest micro-holding purchase, to add to that satisfying ‘fuel security’experience – hopefully though it’ll be just ‘insurance’, and not actually needed too much.