victorian farm

[Millymollymandy]

I too was disputing that about the coal dust. I also dispute that wood ash/soot is 'clean' - what a load of complete bollocks as I have to clean that black grime from my living room constantly too, from a wood burning stove!

Agree with you Annpan about the brawn. Just seeing the pig's face being sliced up was enough to make you barf but eating that eyeball!

[rockchick]

I am just loving this series. I know its probably not entirely accurate as to how things really were but it is so thought provoking and I love the presenters style. They all seem so genuinely pleased with themselves whenever thay achieve anything. Its interesting the things which don't seem to have changed much - although I'm no expert, I imagine lambing a sheep and the bee keeping really haven't changed much at all.

[red]

its irritating me with inaccuracies.. makes me think that they might be wrong about stuff I dont know about


when they wanted to raise chicks - they got a load of eggs, plonked them in a next - added a chicken and then tada! done. erm...the chicken would have to actually be broody... and said chicken was absent when they filmed the new chicks.... strange....

I'm actually making brawn at the mo... that was really sloppy awful looking brawn she made there..


and all that stuff about no chemicals on laundry day? the victorians were really big on throwing nasty chemicals in things.. then next she shoves in blue dye for that white look...

and she always has dirty nails. i really hate that...

[Green Aura]

My mother's brawn was solidified by the jelly from boiling the pig's head, and it's clear, not milky and runny.

However I'm still quite enjoying it. I'm sure it's not wholly accurate, but that's probably because it's all coming out of books.

I'm sure that even in Victorian times much of the custom and practice of the day would be handed down from parents/bosses, only a few trail-blazers would refer to or write the books.

[Annpan]

The inaccuracies were getting at me too...

Did anyone notice the fruit frame they were building "The boys have already built the wooden frame" YEAH RIGHT - they never built that!!!! too much of it makes the work look so damned easy it is insulting.

When they showed the skep I thought they would show how to use it... but Oh no... isn't it handy they are using a 'modern' beehive

The woman said "there were some Shropshire dairies who would have paid their rent with the money made from cheese" well yeah, they were dairies... it would have surprised me more itf they paid their rent with the money made from the banana harvest


....and OH reckons they are all a bit smug but I am still enjoying it....

[Hedgehogpie]

They didn't use the skep because with that system the beekeeper has to destroy the colony to extract the honey, and as Queens can live for 3 to 4 years so obviously it's pretty counter-productive to do so which is why Langstroth hives were developed and they did explain that they are acceptable for the period.

The old system also relied on gathering wild swarms (as they tried to illustrate in the programme) to replenish lost colonies, but the problem with that is you never know what you're getting in terms of temprement or what parasite/disease problems the swarm may be carrying with it (they did mention this too).

The UK's indiginous black bee was nearly entirely wiped by the Acarine mite out and we now have other serious disease and pest issues to deal with so it's better management to use hives that can be inspected easily which can also sustain stable colonies.

[Elizabeth]

Well I'm really enjoying the programme. Particularly liked the one about bees as it is on my long term plan to have a hive.

I also like that I have managed to watch the fist episode that I missed on BBC Iplayer!

[Mainer in Exile]

I've seen the first episode and am looking forward to seeing the whole series. We have an open-air museum about 5 miles from here, much of it featuring this era. Also, my father in law lived pretty much like this, growing up in war time/post war Germany. Too bad he doesn't understand English, as I think he'd enjoy the program as well.

[Annpan]

They didn't use the skep because with that system the beekeeper has to destroy the colony to extract the honey, and as Queens can live for 3 to 4 years so obviously it's pretty counter-productive to do so which is why Langstroth hives were developed and they did explain that they are acceptable for the period.

The old system also relied on gathering wild swarms (as they tried to illustrate in the programme) to replenish lost colonies, but the problem with that is you never know what you're getting in terms of temprement or what parasite/disease problems the swarm may be carrying with it (they did mention this too).

The UK's indiginous black bee was nearly entirely wiped by the Acarine mite out and we now have other serious disease and pest issues to deal with so it's better management to use hives that can be inspected easily which can also sustain stable colonies.

Thanks for that... I didn't realise that you HAD to kill the colony in a skep - they said it was common practice, but not that it was essential. I thought there were ish people who kept bees in skeps, or other traditional methods.... I must have been mistaken.

OH is interested in getting into beekeeping but seems a risky business these days

[Hedgehogpie]

Put it this way, I'm no expert but I'm in the middle of a beekeeping course and the method was explained to us this way: At the end of the season the bee-keeper would basically lift each skep to test the weight, and once he's found the heaviest it would be set over a fire laced with sulphur (I'm sure it was sulphur - don't have my notes to hand) which would kill everything inside so that the comb etc. could then be taken out.

And although it in many ways mimics the natural nest choice for wild bee colonies, in a skep there is no separation between the brood (the bit where the larvae are raised) and the honey stores (the area called the 'super' in a box hive). So if honey production is the aim in keeping them then sadly everything has to go because in a wild colony these two features would be situated alongside each other in the comb and it would be impossible to remove one without the destruction of the other. In 'modern' hives a means of keeping the brood and the honey stores entirely separate has been developed which means that it is possible to remove honeycomb without the necessity of damaging or killing the brood or colony.

I always had a yen to have a skep myself until I understood how it worked in practice. Now I see that while modern hive systems can at first seem invasive, they are actually geared towards keeping the colony healthy and functioning and the design is aimed at allowing the bee keeper to able to operate honey extraction with the minimum of distress, damage or disturbance to them.

Of course, as I say I'm no expert. If anyone has experience of using skeps to share I'd love to hear about it (I still sort of half fancy one - they are so attractive. Maybe I could have a 'faux' skep instead & persuade birds to use it as a nesting box!).

[Elizabeth]

The last episode

I wanted it to go on for ever

[becks77]

It was a really good series despite the inaccuracies, thoroughly enjoyed it .

[Rosendula]

I don't know if any of you have seen Tales from the Green Valley, but if you enjoyed Victorian Farm I think you will probably enjoy that, too. I'm not on commission (honest), but it's out on DVD. I enjoyed VF, but prefered Green Valley. None of the machinery - all done by hand. It might be available to rent from the library if you don't want to buy it.

[Thomzo]

Yes, I really enjoyed the series. It did make it all seem really easy and I bet they only put on their Victorian clothes for the cameras but I really liked the way they made a point about not wasting anything. I think they have probably done a lot for the self-sufficientish movement.

Will have to ask for the book for my birthday.

Zoe

[jampot]

i enjoyed the series generally but got really miffed at the state of the sheep with the bad feet and the magotty (spll) fleece
now i know you cant constantly stand over the sheep and watch for foot rot etc but c'mon only a small flock and 2 men with nought else to do but look after the live stock and the poor bl**dy things get in that state!
ok rant over