Sunday, March 29, 2020

Heating the Greenhouse

We do not have a heated greenhouse.  What is available is a small parafin (kerosene) heater. 

Learning to use a heater was an education.  There is a trick to it. 

Light the heater the last thing at night and keep the wick trimmed short so that there is no smoke.

Spring from your bed as soon as you're awake, run out to the greenhouse and blow the heater out.

Paraffin is not free and I only ever buy one container of it at a time. 

If the flame on the heater is too high the paraffin be used up way too quickly and undermine the savings you are trying to make by growing your own food. 

The other reason is that the heater will smoke.  This will cause all the glass in the greenhouse to be dirty.  It will be covered in a thin layer of black soot which will need to be washed off at your earliest convenience. 

Do you know what a major pain the neck rewashing the greenhouse is due to the fact that you didn't notice that the heater was smoking a little bit?  Answer:  It is a very large inconvenience. It may cause the use of strong language from the person who has to do the cleaning.

The isolation we have been doing is easy as we are fortunate enough to live in the country.  There is plenty to do.  We have loads of places to walk the dog without risk of running into anyone.  I am still concerned that things in the UK are going to get a lot worse before they get better.  I have no control over other people's actions.  I am really trying to let go of things that I do not have control over and worry about my own actions. 

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