I have resigned from a job that I used to love but has been making me miserable for a year. From Easter, I will either be working elsewhere or doing supply work until the right place comes up.
Meanwhile, we have a bit more flexibility when looking for a suitable property.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
what's in the allotment
I moved the kale and PSB from its closely-planted "holding area" up to the ex-potato bed. This area has been weeded, dug over with compost from the garden and bonfire ash, covered with a cardboard mulch and left alone for a month or so.
The cabbage collars I used did keep cabbage root fly away but provided a nice home for slugs. There was quite a lot of slug damage so overall I'm not convinced that collars are worth using.
Something has broken this kale off at the stem. Slugs or pigeons?
Some of the leeks are big enough to use.
Kohlrabi
Slugs got some of the swede and some swedes just vanished. Rotted away or eaten? The ones I get to first were nice though.
I'll try again next season with better slug-defences!
The cabbage collars I used did keep cabbage root fly away but provided a nice home for slugs. There was quite a lot of slug damage so overall I'm not convinced that collars are worth using.
Something has broken this kale off at the stem. Slugs or pigeons?
Some of the leeks are big enough to use.
Kohlrabi
Slugs got some of the swede and some swedes just vanished. Rotted away or eaten? The ones I get to first were nice though.
I'll try again next season with better slug-defences!
Back to project 1...
Since the chickens are keen to remove all traces of vegetation from their vicinity and I actually want to keep the lawn, we have made them a permanent home behind the pond. This is the area I cleared ready for re-planting in the spring. Change of plan!
They have a bigger area now.
Scratching about
Garden cat no.2's reaction to flapping wings.
So what's in here then?
Garden cat no.1 supervising the digging up of insects and worms - the compost bin lived here until Friday.
I think garden cat no.2 may be deciding to change species.
They have a bigger area now.
Scratching about
Garden cat no.2's reaction to flapping wings.
So what's in here then?
Garden cat no.1 supervising the digging up of insects and worms - the compost bin lived here until Friday.
I think garden cat no.2 may be deciding to change species.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
free(ish) ranging
They're out! ScratchscratchPECK ScratchscratchPECK ScratchscratchPECK Do they never get bored?
Here's a patch of lawn they've not been on yet...
And here's a patch they have scratched over.
They have done a great job of removing the moss and they seem quite partial to dandelions too - even grubbing up roots. I've reseeded in places but the rest will have to wait until spring. We need to choose which part of the garden to sacrifice as their permanent home. The bare area behind the pond is looking likely! I just need to level it off a bit first.
Mathilda's baldy neck. The feathers are starting to come through. Mathilda lays the biggest eggs - wish I'd photographed the last one! Massive!
Laying - Mathilda: big eggs, nearly every day. Esmerelda: nice shaped eggs, thick shells, nearly every day. Clarabell and Henrietta: one is laying well-formed eggs sporadically and the other lays soft-shelled eggs almost daily but I don't know which is laying which. I'm giving them oyster shell grit and the empty eggshells get washed, baked, ground up and mixed with their feed as a calcium supplement.
Jealous? Moi?
Here's a patch of lawn they've not been on yet...
And here's a patch they have scratched over.
They have done a great job of removing the moss and they seem quite partial to dandelions too - even grubbing up roots. I've reseeded in places but the rest will have to wait until spring. We need to choose which part of the garden to sacrifice as their permanent home. The bare area behind the pond is looking likely! I just need to level it off a bit first.
Mathilda's baldy neck. The feathers are starting to come through. Mathilda lays the biggest eggs - wish I'd photographed the last one! Massive!
Laying - Mathilda: big eggs, nearly every day. Esmerelda: nice shaped eggs, thick shells, nearly every day. Clarabell and Henrietta: one is laying well-formed eggs sporadically and the other lays soft-shelled eggs almost daily but I don't know which is laying which. I'm giving them oyster shell grit and the empty eggshells get washed, baked, ground up and mixed with their feed as a calcium supplement.
Jealous? Moi?
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A week later...
They're a lot more confident, come over for some attention when we go out to see them and definitely like their food best made up with olive oil and honey. They had one short session of free-ranging yesterday and seemed to want more so I'll get some netting and poles that can be moved around the grass and let them out during the day.
Found this on my washing - I've seen a few different species of ladybird in the garden but don't generally have the camera with me!
Found this on my washing - I've seen a few different species of ladybird in the garden but don't generally have the camera with me!
Saturday, October 06, 2007
chookchookchook...
Look what we got today! 4 ex-battery hens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.
In their new home - not free ranging yet!
A bit baldy in places.
They've had a traumatic time but after half an hour or so they had started to peck around the grass, preen and one of them found the coop and went in.
In their new home - not free ranging yet!
A bit baldy in places.
They've had a traumatic time but after half an hour or so they had started to peck around the grass, preen and one of them found the coop and went in.
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