One of the drawbacks of having limited land is having to provide supplement food for the livestock earlier in the year than one would normally expect to.
Today I started to feed the sheep a small amount of hay. I was hoping the grass would last until the ewes went to a friend's holding, in a couple of weeks time, to run with the ram. However, yesterday, I had to remove the sheep from the orchard and put them back onto the paddock, before the grass really had time to rest. Fred the reject, bottle fed lamb, kept escaping from the orchard, no matter how hard we tried to secure the borders. Yesterday evening we found him in the garden of my late mother in laws house. This in itself wasn't a problem, but to be there he had fallen over a wall. Thankfully, other than a little stiffness in his back leg, he came to no harm.We can't take the chance again, so they are now on hay until I decide my next move. I could send the ewes away early, but after loosing one last year to liver fluke , I am reluctant to do so, even though this year they will be fully treated against it. I can't send Alfie, the ram lamb to slaughter yet as we have only just treated them all for worms and as for Fred....goodness knows what we are going to do with him !! So I guess it's extra hay for now and no doubt by the time I have stopped dithering it will be time to send the ewes away anyway, Alfie we will be big enough and clear to go to slaughter and Fred....yes well ....Fred.
Despite today being lovely, sunny and warm, it feels as though summer is truly over and we are preparing for the winter months. The greenhouse is now empty of all the summer veg. ...tomatoes, peppers and melons. Only the onions and shallots drying on the shelves remain. The shading on the outside has been cleaned off. I'm not sure it was ever really needed and everything has been cleaned and tidied. I may grow a few salad leaves in a couple of grow bags over winter.
The hedges have been cut, not the field hedges, we tend to do those during the Christmas break, but the garden hedges bordering the neighbours. It is always sad to see them cut as it leaves no fruit or berries for the birds. We do however leave the hedge along the hen run uncut, as this borders the field. So there are still plenty of rose hips, haws, elderberries and sloes, plus shelter for them there.
Tomorrow the herbs along the path will be trimmed back as they have now finished for the year. The wild cornflower mix has also finished flowering and has set seed so needs tidying up.
The grass in the hen run has been cut, possibly for the last time this year. Everything is winding down.
A true sign of winter arriving soon, however, is tomorrow the chimneys are going to be swept so we can start to light the wood burners on the chillier evenings.
Since last bee blog entry...( written by S )
Nuc:
- Moved to Modbuy to escape wasps.
- Queen laying slowly due to time of year and low number of bees to keep brood warm but they are slowly increasing ( I think ).
- Don't want to risk main hive by taking bees/brood from it to bolster nuc.
- Was being fed fondant but taking it very slowly so now trying sugar syrup.
- Working nearby ivy for both pollen and nectar
- Ordered a poly nuc. box from www.modernbeekeeping.co.uk plan to move nuc. into it and indoors through the winter
Main Hive:
- Expanding rapidly since requeening, strongest I've had a hive this year
- Still haven't seen the queen since she was introduced, she is marked but in a dull green colour
- Currently in second period of Apiguard varroa treatment, a little later than ideal but held back due to that fact the it can put the queen off laying and wanted to increase population as much as possible
- To use apiguard the entrance block was left in (it was in to help against the wasps), the mesh floor was blocked off and a 2 inch 'eke' was made so that when the apigaurd tray is put directly onto the top of the brood frames there is room between it and the crown board or feeder.
- The first apiguard tray was put in 2 weeks ago and left for 2 weeks, it has just been taken out and replaced with a second tray which will be left in for another 2 weeks
- Bringing in loads of ivy pollen
- Making the most of the good weather flying early and late
- Taken almost 3 gallons of 2:1 sugar solution in 5 days from a homemade miller feeder
- The homemade feeder is my own variation of a miller feeder. It is a 3 inch deep box, the size of the hive - 460mm x 460mm - with a line of holes along the center of the base.
Inside a pair of walls and baffles allow the bees access to the sugar syrup whilst keeping it out of the hive.
All joints are glued and screwed and the inside of the box painted to make it waterproof. (primer, 2 x undercoat, 2 x gloss with dry sand sprinkled into the gloss where the bees walk to give them more grip.)
- Hive buzzing loudly with bees ventilating, trying to reduce the water content of the stored syrup, some bees can bee seen fanning at the entrance.
- Odd wasp still around but no hope of getting into hive
- Took advantage of a deal struck by the BBKA and Bookers Cash and Carry allowing beekeepers to register with them. Bought 25kg of sugar for £13.99
OK thoughts on paper. . so to speak. I am trying to get my future plans for poultry breeding sorted out. I know I am full of plans and then everything changes but in a couple of weeks time the ' minority and rare breeds poultry' auction is taking place and if I know in my mind how I would like my flock to develop. 1: I am less likely to buy on impulse and 2: More persuasive in my argument for buying !
So, how far have I got other than the usual cry of ' I just need more land ! '
Starting with definite decisions ..
The paddock geese must go, they are unproductive, noisy and eat too much grass.
Rather than keep any turkeys back for breeding I shall either hatch bought in eggs or buy in poults, each year. Poults are more economical and the timing works well for housing.
Laying flock: I keep my laying flock at home and being restricted on space my choices are limited, making decisions much easier.
I have room for 10 - 12 hens, plus broody arks during the summer.
So my laying flock will consist of the 2 Cream Legbars, 3 Welsummer, & 2 Dorking ( although I may use these in my breeding flock) that I have already, leaving me room to buy in more layers or swapping around the breeding and laying flock when necessary.
Broodies: I am hoping to use more broodies this year rather than the incubator, so do I buy in a couple of silkies who can run with the laying flock or do I use the birds that go broody in the flocks?
Silkies are more reliable, although probably can cover less eggs than a larger hen.
If I am using them as broodies I won't 'miss' their egg production, however if any of the flock birds - egg or breeding - go broody I would then have to 'break' them so might as well use them.
As I have space in my laying flock I am leaning towards a couple of Silkies.
Breeding /Meat flock: My main aim is to breed birds that are a reasonable size for the table rather than a particular breed or standard. As next year will be my first year I can start from scratch. From this years hatches I have a Light Sussex cockerel, that has looked well from the start so I would like to 'try' him out. I also have a couple of Light Sussex pullets and two Speckled Sussex, all of which look on the sturdy side, so these birds may be the nucleus of the flock. I would like to add Cornish game to the mix. I am still undecided whether to buy a trio and run two flocks with both cockerels. This would give me greater variations and also the chance to rear a few pure birds, possibly for selling.
So decisions .. . as mentioned above ...
Geese to go.
Turkeys buy in annually.
Of the birds I have already
Geriatric gang of Light Sussex to go
Of this years hatch
Welsummer cockerel and three reject pullets in the freezer
Light Sussex cockerel and 2 pullets keep for breeding along with the 2 Speckled Sussex.
The brahma? from the same hatch as the Sussex if hen add to laying flock as a possible broody.
The young Ixworth chick if hen keep for breeding, if cockerel sell or eat.
Black unknown chick of same age eat.
To buy in - possibly a couple of silkies and a trio of Cornish game.
Now my only problem is where to put them all.
I seem to have more wildlife indoors than out at present. For most of the summer we have had ants trailing from the front door through the house. All the cupboard contents are in sealed containers and I nag the rest of the family not to leave food on the kitchen side, but still they come. Twice I thought I had managed to find their nest and destroy them but I think they are indestructible.
Spiders !! They seem to be everywhere and cobwebs. I do dust honest it's just they appear as soon as my back is turned.
This morning there was a caterpillar in th kitchen and later on a bush cricket on the window. This time, though outside. So I quickly closed the windows. Once I was sure it was gone I opened them again...I think it was hiding around the corner because it is now indoors.
Tonight unless all windows are closed before the lights are on there will be moths and tiny flies. Talking of flies we have them too, oh and wasps.
........when planting a newly dug bog garden and most probably an established one as well, always wear wellies and use a board to kneel on!! Obvious I know, but I didn't, well not to start with anyway! After my initial mistake, being pointed out to me in a most ungentlemanly manner as I tried to release myself from the bog, the planting went well.
The whole pond area is really beginning to come together now and as soon as we get around to planting the fruit trees and bushes our front garden will at last look like a garden not a building site.
More insects are arriving in the pond .... to add to the list we now have pond skaters ( well one ! ) and a diving beetle. We did consider adding a bucket of sludge from a friends pond to kick start the wildlife but it is fascinating seeing what arrives, either being brought in on plants or arriving on their own accord.
Friday evening we noticed Alfie, Annie's lamb was scouring. Only slightly as a result of being put onto fresh pasture. We agreed to catch him up first thing this morning to dag him. I couldn't believe it ...he was already struck !! Only just- the maggots were barely visible and still high in the wool, but there all the same...horrid, horrid things.
I'm always so careful, especially this year as it has been so wet and warm, but there you go. He was given a severe short back and sides and heavily sprayed with blowfly repel. We caught him again tonight to check none had been missed. Not a sign of anything, thank goodness. Hopefully by catching it very early that will be the end of it. Although he will be watched very carefully, as will the others, over the next few days.
On a brighter note, the boar's area is now ready for sowing. The ground has been rotovated, rake, rolled and raked again. Tomorrow the seeds will go in and then (sorry) a gentle rain would be much appreciated.
The paddock is now empty of all livestock, the thistles have been topped and it will now be left to rest and the grass to grow back.
The sheep are in the orchard and the paddock geese in the race area between the Fowl's run and the growers and gilts pens.
We now both ache and I certainly smell from getting up close and personal to the sheep. So bath, tea and bed I think.
Today the plants I ordered over the internet arrived, 5 days after ordering, just as they said they would.
I'm really pleased with them, well packed and labelled and good size plants. Individually not expensive either... it just adds up when you get carried away. I ordered a combination of floating, marginal and fully submerged plants for the pond and a few plug plants for the bog garden. It really is at they very end of the growing season for these plants, so I just hope the warm weather holds out for a little while longer, giving them time to get established before the winter.The company I used was Naturescape .
So this afternoon I have been playing in the pond, deciding what to put where. I have left the plants that are to go at the bottom of the pond until I have help, otherwise I would certainly have fallen in. As it is I have muddy knees, dirty jumper sleeves (from pushing them up with muddy hands) and a dirty face, likewise from brushing my hair from my face. It was fun though. Amazingly after only a couple of weeks the pond has started to attract wildlife, the wood pigeons come regularly for a drink, as do wasps and flies, the sparrows bathe in the shallows on the beach side and in the water are mosquito larvae, little red worms, I'm yet to identify and a kind of water flea. As you can tell I have much to learn about pond life.
Finally I have my long awaited for wildlife pond. Well the start of it at least. I not sure if it is faith, hope or experience that lets me believe that the man made hole full of muddy water will one day be a haven for wildlife!
The first step was to clear the front garden of all the paraphernalia that had turned it into a not so temporary builders yard.
The next to dig the hole. As we were digging we came across the soak away, so had to reposition the pond slightly. In our defence the pond was originally going to be in the back garden, which is why we put the soak away where we did, we also miscalculated exactly where we had put it!
The pond has a ridge around three sides to the depth of 9 inches, suitable for marginal plants. The fourth side gently slopes to form the beach area. Two of the sides are turfed and will hopefully be suitable for bulbs that like moist soil i.e snakes head fritillary and plants such as Lady smock.The liner at the back of the pond is edged with stones, which over lap the water to give shelter to the pond life, one juts out to provide a platform for birds and wildlife to drink from the pond ( now a favourite place for one of our cats). The whole of pond gently slopes to a depth of 2' 6''.
Between the pond and the fence we have built a bog garden. This has been the most difficult part as we have struggled to get the levels right, so as not to drain too much water from the pond. I think we are almost there.
I have been extravagant and ordered quite a few plants for both the pond and bog garden online. My excuse/reason is that it is getting late in the year for buying pond plants and we have so little time at the weekends to travel to the different garden centres looking for one plant here, one there, that it made perfect sense !!
Today I made the first batch of this year's marrow chutney. I thought for a change I would make several small batches of different recipes.Today I tried a recipe from Riverford Farm
Mostly because it was one of only a few recipes that didn't require soaking the marrow with salt for 24 hours, also it used tomatoes rather than apples. We have plenty of tomatoes this year but few apples so it sounded ideal. It seems to have turned out OK, slightly spicy with a hint of ginger, so won't be popular with everyone in the house. With everyone taking sandwiches to work each weekday and a fondest for cold meat and pickles we do get through a fair amount of chutney throughout the year.
I also made some more plum jam with plums from the freezer....only one bag left now. It was all going so well and just coming to setting point when the dog started to bark at a delivery lorry, by the time I had sorted that out (it wasn't even for us ) the plums had started to catch on the bottom of the pan. I think I have managed to save most of the jam, which doesn't taste burnt..I hope, but now instead of the house smelling nicely of chutney and jam it smells of old socks !! Well boiling soap powder at least.
It struck me today that most of our work is for the future rather than the here and now. I guess it is the same in most walks of life but when working with animals or the land you are always planning ahead.
We spent much of the weekend, breaking up the ground in the, now empty, boar's pen and rotovating it ready for reseeding. By doing it now the new grass will have time to get established before the winter. It will then be ready for the new lambs to have fresh, clean grass in April/May.
We also started to scrub down and re stain the goose houses, in order to help protect the wood against the winter weather, it will be done again at the start of the summer.
The young pullets were hatched early in the year with the hope that they will come into lay through the winter, providing eggs while the older hens 'take a break'. The turkeys are reared at a time when they will be ready for Christmas, the ewes go to the ram in November so they lamb at the start of the better weather and when the grass is plentiful and so it goes on...
It is much the same in the vegetable patch, planning ahead for the following seasons but still busy with the harvesting of last years planning.
The turkeys are growing, at possibly a quicker rate than we would like. They are now 10 weeks old and I am sure the whites are bigger than last years at the same age. I am fairly sure I have a pair of each. The white stag spends much of the day parading. The two stags do occasionally fight and although the fights don't last long they are quite nasty, with each trying to hold on to the others wattle. Their destiny is still undecided, two are most certainly for Christmas, but the idea was to keep a pair for breeding next year. However to do so I need to reduce my poultry stock. To be more precise I have to get rid of the paddock geese. Today I tried photographing them for an advert in the local agricultural merchants, I think they knew what I was up to because I just couldn't get a clear shot of them.They are however going...one way or another. For now I shall keep the orchard geese.
Today we brought the three best of the Welsummer pullets, from the first hatch of this year, down from the yard to join the laying flock. They are now 21 weeks so should be close to POL. They weren't that keen to be caught, but if the remaining birds knew their fate I'm sure they would all have jumped in the box. There has been very little squabbling between the new birds and the established flock, although they are keeping apart from each other. Where they will choose to roost tonight I'm not sure.(The three new ones have snuggled up in the small ark,which is fine.They can continue to do so until they feel ready to join the others.)
One of the new birds has an overgrown beak which will need trimming in the next few days but as I won't be breeding from them it shouldn't be a problem.....
....and yes we do still have the three geriatric Light Sussex who were supposed to have been culled before the new ones arrived. Only one of them has called our bluff and started to lay again. So a stay of execution for a few weeks at least.
On Monday we took the two Tamworth boars to the abattoir. They were the youngest we have ever sent pigs off, just 23 weeks, but we were anxious about boar taint. Unnecessarily so as it turns out.At the weekend we tagged them and fixed a race from their paddock to the gateway and trailer, so on Monday morning all we had to do was quietly walk them up the ramp. All Sunday night it absolutely poured down, but thankfully they had spent the night inside and by the time we arrived at the slaughter house they were clean and dry, thanks to the straw in the trailer. So much easier than sheep ! The loading went well, despite the rain, fog and darkness. We tend to make the journey as early as possible so we are home in time to do the other livestock before work at 8.00 am. This means loading at 5. 30 am and we were surprised how dark it was. We didn't manage to get away quietly I'm afraid, so apologies to all the neighbours. On arriving at the yard all the pigs started squealing in anticipation of a meal, this set the sheep and geese off and by 6.00 am just as we were leaving the cockerels began crowing.... sorry !! The journey went smoothly if somewhat quietly, with neither of us talking. I think we both hold our breath until they are safely unloaded.The pigs looked well and compared favourably to others already there. There was no phone call to say the meat was condemned, no reason why it should be, but it is always a worry of mine. Along with escaping on the journey, being too fat, too thin etc. etc.Yesterday we collected four boxes of nice looking pork. The chops were slightly fattier than we expected, yet there was very little fat on the leg and shoulder joints or belly .
We are not experienced enough to know if this is typical of the breed or down to how we fed them, but we do need to be careful of the two gilts we are running on for bacon.From this.. to this in just a few short months ! 
Finally, with thanks to my elder son, I'm now back online and hopefully in full working order.
With so much to catch up on, I'll start with the garden. The season has most definitely turned to autumn and many of the plants are slowing down. Unfortunately not the runner beans, the second sowing is just coming into its own and we are still picking more than enough from the first !! Next year we will plant less. At the weekend we pulled up the French beans, although some plants still had the occasional flower there was never going to be enough again for a meal. They have done very well, we have eaten and frozen a fair few.
All the onions and shallots are now out of the ground and drying, the first of the shallots have already been pickled.
Leeks, parsnips and sprouts are all looking good. We are still digging beetroot and main crop potatoes .Thankfully we seemed to have managed to stop the blight from getting to the tubers by removing the tops in time.However the outdoor tomatoes have finally succumbed. To begin with I managed to keep it in check by removing any leaf that looked suspect but the foggy wet weather over the past couple of days has finally got the better of us.
This morning I pulled up all the plants. I gave the the remaining tomatoes to the hens along with the used grow bags, which I thought they would enjoy scratching about in. They viewed both with a great deal of suspicion.
In the greenhouse only the big boy tomatoes remain, the others have all finished.Other than being attacked by caterpillars, they have cropped well if a little lacking in flavour. All the peppers have been picked.The melons have come to nothing. I'm not sure if to try them again next year and put this years failure down to the weather or if to use the space for something more reliable.
Other than the mixed leaf salad and the early radishes most of the container grown veg have failed or at least been disappointing. Especially the dumpy bag of potatoes in the yard.We had a very small crop from them, certainly not enough to justify repeating again next year.
All in all though most things have been a success and there is still plenty to come in the next couple of months, including the squash, marrows and yet more courgettes. At a later date we will decide which plants to grow again next year, which not to and how many of each.
(Chicks a couple of days old. Foreground - Ixworth, back - Australorp type ?)
( Chicks 11 weeks old. Left - Australorp ? Right - Ixworth . The white showing on the head and neck of the black chick are new feather shafts )
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