a view from the cow pasture

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48803054200284456572011-07-08T02:39:24.136-07:00a view from the cow pasturefarming, environment, computing, food, that damn dog, those damn cats..Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-1104367552887480702009-08-19T07:57:00.000-07:002009-08-19T08:06:49.587-07:00Power it down day

Here's a good, simple idea. Everyone powers off their computers before going home. So why didn't we think of this already? Oh, we did!Power it down website1E.com energy saving softwareIf you sign up for this you are at least coontributing to a worthy cause, and let's face, it's not huge effort to power off your PC, but then if that's the case then why are so many not doing it?

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-61361885131824233462009-08-11T03:09:00.001-07:002009-08-11T03:09:16.236-07:00SPIN Farming

Found an interesting site on my interweb travels today. SPIN Farming (SPIN stands for Small Plot INtensive) is all about using small, urban spaces in order to produce food. Small scale farming like this has a lot to offer in that it’s cheap to set up, easy to manage and can provide an abundance of cheap, healthy food for small community groups. The SPIN website contains lots of useful info which

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-53757645927325190452009-07-09T04:39:00.000-07:002009-07-09T04:49:11.326-07:00Instant Family History

In recent months I've been idly toying with the idea of tracing my family tree. I suppose this was triggered by my having to clear out the farmhouse when we started major renovations back in October. I found all sorts of old photos, birth certificates and so on, put them in a box and left them to ferment...Anyway yesterday I decided to start looking into the best tools to manage all this info and

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-82917304875302282302009-06-30T03:50:00.001-07:002009-06-30T03:53:06.151-07:00Energy Management in Practice

Tackling Hard to Reach Distributed Energy Losses in the Non-Intensive Energy Use Sector – Power Management in PCs With the new Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) regulations, many businesses are about to face the realities of carbon budgeting for the first time. Organisations will be required to buy allowances to cover their CO2 emissions; top performers will receive financial rewards; and poor

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-36295419092702525232009-06-30T03:39:00.000-07:002009-06-30T03:46:51.703-07:00Watch 'Pig Business' - Tonight on More 4

On 30 June the British TV channel More 4 will broadcast a shocking documentary, PIG BUSINESS, which exposes for the first time the real cost of ‘cheap’ pig meat – the appalling conditions in factory farms endured by both animals and workers, the environmental pollution, the destruction of rural economies.You’ve probably heard that Swine Flu emerged just upwind of a swine plant owned by Smithfield

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-42810860080394846462009-06-23T02:31:00.000-07:002009-06-25T13:42:47.288-07:00Ditch the strimmer and have some fun

I recently decided to cut down on fuel usage wherever possible, but aside from the usual suspects of car/tractor/quad bike usage, I've almost completely stopped using the strimmer.I guess I was getting a bit sick of having to go out with ear defenders, safety glasses etc and being surrounded by a cloud of fumes and noise.Now we had a couple of old scythes here which my grandfather and father had

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-2439869682801718512009-06-21T05:30:00.000-07:002009-06-23T02:53:55.566-07:00One Man, One Cow, One Planet - watch this

I watched this DVD the other day and it was quite inspiring. It follows Peter Proctor, worldwide authority on soil and biodynamics, on his journey through India. He's trying to provide an alternative to India's tens of thousands of small farmers who are struggling under the constant pressures of corporate agri-business.What I found really shocking was the number of farmers who have actually

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-44650399918350886912009-06-18T08:56:00.000-07:002009-06-18T09:06:05.659-07:00That damn dog!

'that damn dog!' is a term of endearment for Timmy our one eyed sheepdog. She will crop up from time to time, as she is prone to wandering, and generally getting into scrapes.Today however she is mostly sleeping and eating my biscuits as I'm working on some stuff for my friends over at 1E . It's nice to have the choice actually, if the weather is a tad inclement, I simply change hats and go into

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4880305420028445657.post-5766191873278618332009-06-18T08:49:00.000-07:002009-06-18T08:55:34.057-07:00No broadband, not even skinnyband!

To cut a long story short, we're too far from the exchange (so says Mr BT Engineer anyway) to get any kind of ADSL working here at the farm, so I did a bit of poking around and found a solution..I've been using Mobile Broadband from Orange quite successfully, and today I came across these routers, which can be used to share the connection.http://www.nucleusnetworks.co.uk/3g-router/billion-bipac-

Phil Wilcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854248208775391138noreply@blogger.com0