Life, the Universe, and Everything. And Pea Straw

Anyone who is a fan of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy will know that the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42. And the Interconnectedness of All Things. Always carry a towel. And DON'T PANIC. All good advice

Anyway, getting back to bees, it would seem that life is indeed interconnected with all things. We discovered one of our excellent hosts through a random happenstance. I've been doing a spot of severe gardening. Severe, as in, everything is awash in clay. We also frequent the Clevedon markets, which is an all-round marvellous Sunday morning out full of fabulous stalls and yummy food. (I can see this post is going to be a shaggy dog story...)

And discovered Michele, pea straw lady extraordinaire. Well, the pea straw is definitely extraordinary, and Michele is pretty special too. So I bought a trailer load of pea straw, and covered my whole back yard with it. Spread it around a bit. This was back in June, and it has been just the ticket to keep all the clay down.

And its all breaking down well now, just in time to sprinkle a few seeds around. The 'Plan Bee' seeds from the NZ Gardener, of course.

If you need some pea straw too, contact her here. Or visit the Clevedon Markets on a Sunday.

And...back to the interconnectedness of all things... Michele's partner John grows the peas that make the peastraw (peastraw from actual peas! well, I'm a city girl, so that is a revelation, duh). And now he is one of our wonderful bee hosts.

John might just have to make do with his own post another time.