Weekly catch up

It has been nearly a week since I last posted, I don't know where the time has gone! I don't think I have been any busier than usual.

The weather has been dreadful, yet again, with high winds, heavy rain and low temperatures. The garden has taken quite a battering. Several branches of the buddleia have been broken off, the taller plants in the bee border need either staking or cutting down and a couple of the courgette plants have been blown about a little too much.
The garden is still producing well though and the freezer is filling up with both runner and french beans, apples, parsley and different variations on roasted tomato. The cupboard now has jars of pickled beetroot, runner beans and pickled onions in, along side plum and apple chutney with more to follow.

The bees are doing OK ...ish. The hive in the paddock, touch wood with all fingers crossed, is beginning to look promising with plenty of newly emerged bees on the last inspection, although it also had a little more chalk brood than we would like. The hive in with the hens is still weak, although hopefully there should be new bees emerging from now on. Annoyingly it is still being pestered by wasps.

We still have the three old Light Sussex, as we just haven't had the time to deal with them yet. Egg production has dropped to an all time low with only one maybe two a day. Frustrating as we have customers waiting. The Welsummer are still to come into lay. The broody hen continues to be a brilliant mum. At the start of the week she left them at night to go to roost with the other hens but when the weather turned she took them into the house with her to brood under her wing. Maternal instinct fascinates me, both in humans and animals. Some will fight to the death for their offspring, while others walk away without so much as a backward glance, more than happy to leave the caring to others. Thankfully Sylvia falls into the first category and in doing so has earned herself a long term place in the flock and our respect.

We have decided the boars are ready to go.Sadly the butcher we have used in the past has closed down so tomorrow we are going to talk to a different one, who hopefully will be as good.

The turkeys are growing by the day and are as entertaining as ever. On the blustery wet days we have been keeping them indoors much to their disgust.

The rest of the livestock are all well.

Wildlife pond - Making a start

We decided this weekend we would make a start on the, long awaited for, wildlife pond. After doing the usual morning livestock duties plus a few weekend extras, we came home made a final decision on the size and position of the pond, quickly washed and changed and travelled 40 minutes to the nearest stockist of pond liners.
Once home we grabbed a quick coffee and cheese roll before starting the digging....but before we had a chance to start the rain came and looks pretty much set for the rest of the day.

So back to the kitchen, I guess, for more freezing and pickling. Oh well there's always tomorrow.

Poultry news

At the weekend we dispatched the Blackrock, one of our original four and part of the geriatric gang.

We have decided all four will be replaced in the next few weeks with 3 of the Welsummer pullets, who are now 18 weeks old and close to POL. Although in a way it seems disloyal to the gentleman we bought them from, we don't have the room to keep unproductive stock. They laid sporadically this season and have just started to moult and I would be very surprised if they came back into lay again. The decision to cull the Blackrock was made easier by the fact that she was unwell. Since having her she has always had a respiratory problem and the time between bouts was getting less each time and we are heading towards winter. It won't be so 'easy' with the Light Sussex.

Both the Welsummer and Light Sussex cockerels have found their voices and spend the day competing against each other. As neither have quite got the hang of crowing yet, I think, for now, they are more comical than annoying to the neighbours.

We are still unsure if one of the Speckled Sussex is a cockerel, if it is it is not very far advanced. I have a dozen eggs for a tray bake riding on the fact that it is a cockerel. I have a feeling I may loose this bet!

Yesterday I let the Dorking and her two 5 week old chicks out amongst the other hens. As there are only the two it seemed the easiest option. They have been accepted extremely well, although the mother hen is still very protective and keeps her distance from the rest.

Trying to take any photos has been proving difficult.
(Click on photo to enlarge)



As mentioned in a previous post the turkey poults are now out during the day. It is lovely to see them enjoying their life and their freedom. If you ever get a chance to keep turkeys do, they are the best !!

Finally the geese ...for now peace reigns. Breeding season is over and they are just coming out of moult and looking quite fine. All will change in a couple of months time and the ganders will take on a completely different personality.

Maximum Capacity

At this time of the year we are up to our limit with the number of livestock we can comfortably accommodate on an acre of land.
The lambs aren't quite ready to go but are eating as much as their mothers. This year with only two, rather than four lambs and the wet summer, we have had plenty of grass, albeit of low quality, so have avoided having to supplement with hay. I have just started to feed a handful of concentrates morning and evening, but this is more to get them used to being handled and bucket trained.
The pigs are also close but not yet ready to go and this year are taking up two areas of land.
The chicks are at a similar stage, not quite ready, needing a couple more months of growth.
The turkey poults are in the Fowl's run, so it is now out of bounds to the geese but the sheep are still able to graze it at night when the turkeys are housed.

One area of land that isn't put to its full use is the orchard. It is difficult to fence securely, so most of the time is only grazed by the geese, with the sheep having supervised access only, mostly at weekends.

In a couple months time, certainly by Christmas, the situation will be the opposite and we will be left with only a few poultry.
The pigs and lambs will have gone to slaughter, the ewes will be at a friends smallholding to run with the ram and any of this years chicks we aren't keeping will be in the freezer.
So we will only have the geese, whose future is still undecided and the growers we have selected to start our breeding flock with and maybe a couple of the turkeys.

It is a time when we reseed the pig areas, rest the grazing areas, hedge and sort out fencing and scrub out the housing. All ready to start again in the New Year.

Wasps - Hive under attack

The small nucleus hive in the hen run is under attack from wasps.It's quite common at this time of the year, when the wasps nests begin to break up and the adults go foraging for sugar. The stronger of the bee colonies can successfully defend themselves but the small weaker ones struggle to do so.

The bees do appear to be doing their best to defend the hive. Several have gathered around the entrance repelling any wasps attempting to enter.The fact that they are in the nuc. box with only a small entrance hole helps. The hive does seem to be busy with many bees returning laden with pollen, a promising sign that the Queen may be laying.

Typically my son is away and my computer is playing up making it difficult to find much information on the best way to deal with the wasps, but I have read all the books we have on bees and I have tried a few suggestions.

According to the Bee bible by Ted Hooper, jars filled with a mixture of jam and water will divert the wasp's attention and drown them without attracting the bees. It does appear to work as several have drowned so far, it was the last of my plum jam so it had better work !

I have also put out a couple of wasp traps made from coke bottles and filled with a mixture of orange juice, beer and vinegar, apparently bees don't like alcohol or vinegar, sadly it appears butterflies do, as straight away I caught two beautiful Red Admiral butterflies.

I have also placed some of the fondant made for the bees well away from the hive, in the hope that it may encourage the wasps away from the hive.. Not sure if this will work, hopefully it won't just attract many more !

What doesn't work are the grey bags supposedly representing wasp nest, on the market. I bought two and wasps just crawl all over them.

The swallows are gathering

For the past few days the swallows have been gathering on the electric wires that run the length of the fields opposite our house, not for their final flight but just grouping together in readiness.It will be a couple of weeks before they finally go.

Sadly each year the numbers decline, when we first moved here they would fill all three wires the length of the fields now it's less than half.

They leave as they arrive with much excitement, chittering and chattering the whole time.The swifts have mostly gone. They arrive swooping the air screeching and screaming, but their departure is silent and goes almost unnoticed. One day you are just aware they are no longer there.

Unfortunately there seems to be very few house martins about anymore, in our area at least. I only saw a couple of sightings this year.

There will, as always be a few stragglers, the brood of swallows in the feed shed are less than a week old, so it will be a while before they leave on their amazing journey.

The weekend

The weather at the weekend was glorious, but with a slight nip in the air and heavy morning dews it is beginning to have an autumnal feel. Today it is raining ....again !

After spending many of the past weekends at the yard working on the growers pens and renovating the pig ark it was good to spend time at home catching up on odds and ends. The railings at the front have finally been painted, the garden generally tidied, yet more beans and beetroot harvested and the second lot of shallots lifted. I have also planted some comfrey, an all round useful plant - the bees love the flowers and the leaves make a valuable liquid feed and act as an accelerator on the compost heap.

We also moved the four 11 week old chicks to the yard to join the others. It went surprising well, not at all as I expected though.The older ones are terrified of the younger ones.
We put the new four into the pen Sunday morning before letting the older ones out. I think the older ones were quite shocked to see 'intruders' in their pen and were slightly nervous on leaving the safety of the house. They did eventually pluck up the courage to venture out but once my back was turned they all disappeared back inside, only reemerging when I returned. This continued on and off during the day. By the evening one of the Sussex had joined the original group and went to roost with them, the other three we had to place into the house. This morning they all seemed more settled.
It is strange at home with just the laying flock and the broody and her chicks, who have now been moved into the larger run.

The two new queen bees, that arrived by post, have each been accepted by their colony. The one in the yard has started to lay but we are not sure about the one in the hen run. For the next two weeks while my son is away I have sole responsibility of keeping them alive.
Oh and his hamster ! Who by the way isn't keen on raw French or runner beans.

First plums of the year

This morning we picked the first of this years plums. Not many, about half a calf bucket full and not that good. I think the pigs possibly ended up with more than we brought home. They aren't really ripe but are beginning to split on the tree. The year started off looking quite promising, with plenty of blossom but we were hit by several weeks of hard frosts earlier in the year.
2007 was a bumper year, 2008 not so good with no spare for jam etc. so we were looking forward to this years. The last jar of 2007 jam is open in the fridge now.

We have three trees of the local Dittisham plum. It is a good plum both for eating and cooking. It ripens to a dark purple with yellow flesh. The trees are very old and are in need a fair bit of work. This month is the ideal time to prune .....so more than likely this weekends work.

Garden round up

It has been a while since I posted an update on the progress of the garden.

For future reference mostly for ourselves ...a list

Broad beans...initially good but after they were attacked by black fly we only had a few pickings.

Runner and French beans ... as always reliable. Plenty for eating, freezing and sharing, with the bulk still to come.

Beetroot... have been fantastic, we've been digging them for quite a while with more to come. As yet we haven't pickled any but eaten plenty - often straight from the pan.

Turnips ... Initially they were good, best we have grown - Aramis. Second sowing not so good.Third sowing - snowball just germinating.

Carrots... complete disaster, not sure why. Small, splitting and rotting in the ground.

Potatoes.. first early Swift, not worthwhile, no earlier than others, few to a stalk, no great flavour. Despite blight we have taken a chance and left the rest in the ground. Charlotte cropping well. Some slug damage and a few with a scab ( limey soil)

Onions and shallots ... Spring onions doing well. First of the shallots were dug about 10 days ago. Once dried they will be pickled. Second crop of shallots and onions still to dig.

Parsley .. is plentiful, using and freezing .

Cucumbers ... not great but beginning to look a little more promising. Marrows ....OK, not outstanding. Squash...sickly. Courgettes ... enough, but not drowning in them as in previous years.

Lettuce... a slight lull now but until recently continuous, enough for us and the animals.


Tomatoes - Greenhouse ... heavy crop, but no flavour, very disappointing. Outdoor ... split and mushy after the heavy rain...enjoyed only by the chickens.

Peppers ... I have been pleased with the peppers but disappointed in the colour range.

Reading back it doesn't sound that positive but for a while now we have eaten mostly home grown vegetables and salad and even those we consider tasteless are so much nicer than shop bought and we still have plenty to follow.

After the rain

After yesterdays dreadful weather, 24 hours + of rain, winds and low temperatures, today has been lovely. A little shaky to start with but as the day has gone on the weather has got better....almost summer like !

The wildlife, especially the flying insects and the birds are making the most of it. I counted at least 6 different species of butterfly around the garden and many more species of bee and bee like insects than I am able to identify.


The ants are flying.

Photo: Ants just beginning to emerge.(click on image to enlarge)

They fly once a year when queen ants develop wings and leave on their mating flight. After she has mated the queen will loose her wings and develop a new colony, she will remain fertile for the rest of her life. This is very similar to bees. The accompanying ants will fall to the ground and perish. Many are eaten by birds.( possibly what happened to our new queen bees on their mating flight ! ) Five minutes after taking this photo the swifts and swallows arrived in abundance. Quite reassuring as yesterday the swallows in the feed shed hatched and it really wasn't the weather to find food for the young, hopefully today the parents will be able to make up for it.

I also noticed today that the goldfinches had fledged. The young were sitting in the holly tree shouting very loudly and impatiently to be fed. Hopefully if this fine weather continues the young of both will stand a fighting chance.

Early morning manouvers

We were greeted at the gate this morning by the smallest of the gilts. As endearing as that sounds she was actually on the wrong side of the electric fence. I'm not sure how long she had been out but she had certainly enjoyed herself, judging by the destruction. If she is hogging and was looking for the boys or if she just thought the grass was greener on the other side, I don't know. She was easily enticed back to the right side of the fence with food, but once the food had gone she was out again, straight through the fencing. After checking the fence wasn't earthing anywhere, we changed the battery, in case the other was loosing it's charge. It made no difference she went straight through it again. So we made the lower wire live. We have four strands to the fence, when we first get the weaners we have the lower three live, as they grow and start to dig we disconnect the lower one and connect the top one ( it has always worked well before !). Even with the four wires live she still walked straight through, this time joined by the second pig and with less inclination to return.
So we decided the only thing to do was to swap the boars and gilts around, as the boars pen has a more solid barrier.

Sounded simple enough, however to do so was like trying to do one of those child's puzzle, (the ones that have several plastic squares that you have to move around to make a picture - I never was very good at them ! )

First we moved the sheep out of the Fowls run into the orchard, we then moved the gilts and contained them in the small yard in front of the stable...so far so good. Next we walked the boars from their pen through the builders yard to the paddock. Again all too easy, then the boars saw the gilts ! several scoops of food later we managed to encourage the gilts through the Fowls run into Jack's area and their 'new ' home. All we had to do now was to put the boars back into the original pig area, the one with the electric fencing.
Half an hour later, with many handfuls of food, a couple of pig boards and few encouraging and not so encouraging words, the two boars finally decided that it was safe to cross the gap in the electric fencing. Ironic really as it was the gilts total disregard of the fencing that started it all.
Then it was just a case of trying to persuade the sheep to return to the meagre grass of the Fowls run oh and chase the geese back into the paddock as they had taken the opportunity to wander off.

Finally at 8.30am everyone was where they should be....but for how long ?

The weekend in pictures -oh and BLIGHT

Yesterday the potatoes started to show the first signs of possible blight. So today we cut back all the tops and dug up the earlies. We have left the maincrop in the ground but will keep a very careful eye on them. I also stripped the outdoor tomatoes of all leaves that looked anything other than perfect. It had to happen all we can do is keep our fingers crossed that we caught it in time.

The two boars have finally been moved to a separate enclosure, which they are very pleased about as they have plenty of fresh grass and weeds to devour.


The poor gilts certainly got the raw end of the deal, being left behind on the bare ground. We will compensate them by feeding them all the garden waste.

The turkeys also moved to their new home, in the stable, this weekend. After a couple of weeks they should be larger enough to venture safely outside