Category: "Admin"

Himalayan Balsam: 2017

April 25th, 2017

General: Work covers the fields that stretch some 1.1Km along the river. Areas are labelled {1,2,3 and 4} and page numbers respectively show a map of the area and the work carried out. 2016
As of August 2017 the main work is to clear southward from the breach in Area2 along the field side of the drain.

Area 1

Area 1 is partitioned as follows:
yellow Part of the top field east to the drainage channel of the lower field.
green This is the lower field, between west, south and east drainage channels.
blue The line indicates the western edge of the bund
orange Not a part of the Riverland fields but cleared as it encroaches upon it.

Diary: 2017

strong>October 16th Area1yellow 0

strong>September 25th Area1blue 8 and 15 on neighbours bund north
strong>September 25th Area1yellow 42: 11 in the south west corner including two further east along the wall accessed from Trekensa Gardens, where there are thousands growing and 29 from the usual strip on the east of the top part of the field.

August 30th Area1blue 16 and
Neighbours field 16
Area1 59 A surprise to find a patch in the south west corner of the field, must have seeded a year ago at least, so will use the brushcutter to clear the area and thence keep an eye on it for a few years.
August 3rd
Area1yellow 36
Area1green 8
Area1blue 16
Neighbours field 6

July 19th:
Area1green 1 in south-west
Area1blue 19
July 12th:
Area1yellow 57
54 were in small area in ferns by the pine trees. Probably all seeded from a single plant missed last year. 3 others, just over midway down, just above the drain.
July 7th:
Area1Blue 13
Area1Green 3
and 44 from neighbours boundary within 2 metres.
July 7th: Cleared path across low part of far field and all the bund 2T
Cut through half a dozen or so balsams
July 5th: Cleared path across south of far field 1T
July 2nd: 1 In the south east corner

June 17th: Cleared path across far field 1T
June 15th: Cleared path across small triangle field and back 1T
June 14th ~ 15th & May 23rd: Cleared path across triangle field (4hr)

Links to other areas by page no.

Pages: 1· 2· 3· 4· 5

Makita Brushcutter:

July 2nd, 2025

This is a diary of my use of Gavin's Makita Brushcutter. Thanks by the way :)

The most powerful Makita LXT is the DUR369A. The X1 is with cutting attachments

DUR369AZX1 36V (AZ No batteries and charger)
DUR369AGX1 (AG with batteries and charger)

Makita Brush Cutter LXT ® DUR369A — Makita BVrush Cutter LXT ® DUR369A with batteries.

Whereas the Makita is only about a tenth as powerful as the Sthil and the batteries only last a third of the time 0.7lt of petrol it is much lighter, it is not deafening so I don't wear the helmet with ear muffs. The shorter period of use, the light weight also mean it is easier to use, almost pleasant in that I don't have to hype myself up and I don't have to sweat. Definitely something I would have to consider buying. It's just the impact of having Li-ion batteries made ��

2026

Mar 5th: 1 charge: Around the veggie area with blade
Mar 18th: 2 charge: 1 around the veggie area and 1 around the bottom parking area of △, both with blade
Apr 23rd: 1 charge: Around the veggie area with strimmer: Tried a second run but one battery was not charged �. Charged second battery and all OK
Apr 27th: 1 charge: Down to the boat
Apr 28th: 1 charge: Edges of inhabited area
May 8th: 1 charge: 80m along the bund north from 27th April
May 10th: 1 charge: Further along the bund north from 8th May
May 12th: 1 charge: After noticing many bluebells I decided to do three small areas. First was continuation north, past the Elder tree a little, where a few bluebells were cut. Secondly I went to the JK patch and cleared the bund there and south a bit to the willow with purple toothwort. I can then rake up the debris and bring it back to monitor it. Thirdly the area that dips below the cut willow on the bund.
May 15th: 1 charge: Apart from scooting around a few Bluebells and Red Campion the bund is cleared north to same 5m beyond the 'felled willow.
May 30th: 2 charge: The track from Top to △ Centre and side hedges.
June 7th: 1 charge: Bottom track in △and the track from △ to Trekensa Gardens: side hedges.
June 12th: 1 charge: Around veggie area
June 13th: 2 charges: Work around the Parkup 1 △ along the track verge and 1⁄3 across bottom of △
June 14th: 2 charge: Down to boat and north past the [willow]
June 20th: 2 charge: Tidy access to △ and cleared area to poo for incomers. | Clear path to north . . .
June 20th: 1 charge: Cleared the way to Long term Parkup in △
June 22nd: 1 charge: Cleared turning area and more in △ and around the growing area.
June 27th: 1 charge: Using the blade did more work on the track to and to TLTPU (The Long Term Park Up)
June 28th: 1 charge: Using the blade did more work to TLTPU (The Long Term Park Up) and veggie area
July 5th: 3 charges: Clearing bund north for invasive plant access from lane to large willow on the river edge.
Sept. 21st: 1 charge: Cleared turning area. [Blade}
Sept. 23rd: 1 charge: More on turning area and more and around the growing area. [Blade]
Oct. 30th: 1 charge: △ and the growing area . [Strimmer]
Oct. 31st: 1 charge: △ and the growing area . [Strimmer]

Pages: 1· 2

Green Beans, Peas & Pulses

September 19th, 2015

There are four crops to beans.

Broad beans for their seeds
Runner and other beans whole pods before the bean seeds form to any significant degree
Podded beans from 2 above, before they mature and begin to dry on the 'vine'
Dried Beans from all types

Year: 2027

Broad Beans

Year: 2026

Year: 2025

Year: 2024

General Info: Apart from broad beans, which are very standard I have developed some unique crosses and varieties of other common types, Runner Beans, Borlotti, French beans (Cobra), Dwarf French beans and Red Kidney Beans. Runner Beans I have over the years bought a few varieties, most have red flowers and there was one that had a red top and white lower lip. One type was called Enorma and had white seeds.The more common varieties had either a purple or white background with varying amount of darker patches that ranged from speckles to large dark areas, black over the purple and brown over white. This year I have a totally black seeded variety, although I hadn't noticed any dark pods. 2021 ~ Page 3

Here are the same varieties before they dry. The largest the purple ones top-right are some 3cm x 1.5cm these are the ones that turn black, or maybe that should be so dark purple.