Update on chickens

Our first 5 hens (Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch followed by Blue and Bell) were all ex-battery hens. There really is nothing like seeing the battered, naked chickens going from their first day (being scared of air, sun, rain, flies...) to becoming confident (some might say a little too confident!) proper chickens. BUT, they are hard work - I always say that they're like foster children. They'd had a tough start in life and you can tell. We lost our last ex-batt (Rom - who behaved more like a cockrel!) late last year and not long before that decided that we would get some *normal* chickens for a while...enter Water and Cress (following the theme of being named after heritage railways).

Here's Cress, she's the boss, and a big chicken:



This is Water, she's an "Amber", isn't she pretty? She's the under-chicken (and therefore our favourite!). Good ol's Rom-the-bully is in the background (I think Water was pretty glad to see the back of her!)



They're very well behaved and lay pretty much ever day. I'll post an egg count soon but this gives an indication of how productive they are...

Pergola-la-la

I have been thinking about a pergola for some time. An odd thing to think about I'm sure you'll agree but I have been certain that our garden really lacked it. Our neighbours gardens are so empty of plants etc (although one side is getting better) that we don't get anything filling any space so it makes our garden feel even emptier! So I decided a pergola was the answer...

This weekend just gone we took a couple of days off so we had some time to get it done. We took our little car down to the local timber merchants and placed our order, which they prepared straight away (very nice chaps) - we managed to fit it all in the car and get it home without losing any out of the open boot (phew!).



Two very hot and sweaty days later we got the main posts up:



I'm afraid I don't have a photo of the finished product yet. The cross beams are now on (not in this photo). We are also going to put some trellis panels on the left and right hand side (to the left and right of the main posts) for the grape and hop to grow up. The fig tree is also going to go into the ground in front of the right hand side.



We also still have the patio to finish. We tried to get some nice reclaimed tiles from the local reclamation yard but were shocked to discover that they were £3.50 each (we would have needed 250!), which is considerably more expensive than those that we've seen before so plan B was Homebase where we found some nice-ish brick tiles. Not perfect but they'll do! We need over 200 of them so I did 2 shifts bringing them home in the car so that it wasn't too heavy. I still have one or two more loads to go but couldn't face it this weekend so I will need to get up early on Saturday to get them while Matt starts preparing the ground for laying them.

The chickens decided that we needed some assistance with the pergola. This is Rom, who decided that a pile of bricks would be a good place to sit (she just hopped up there. Isn't she clever!)



Blue, who is still quite ill and having antibiotics, was also trying to help Matt by removing bugs and worms from below the ladder. Isn't she good.



Having dug out the post holes, and some of the paving area, we made a nice pile of soil on some tarpaulin ready to go down to the allotment. The girls, however, had different ideas. Apparently a neat pile is not the done thing and a nice flat dusty spread across the lawn would be much better:

Egg count - June

Start of a new month so time for another egg count. We've seen a bit of a dip this month:



This can be mainly explained by Blue, who was laying the most regular beautiful brown eggs, is having a bit of a tough time. A lot of hers come out soft and are gobbled up by the "old girls" in seconds, and the rest of the time she is laying tiny brown eggs with no yolk. She seems fine apart from this so we will just need to keep an eye on her as always. The others seem to be doing ok though, we have 2/3 most days. It's also probably down to the hot weather - I wouldn't fancy trying to squeeze one of those things out in this heat, would you?!

We can't really complain with this month's figure, which averages out as more than 2 a day. We are still selling them relatively regularly which is paying for their food. All you can ask really considering their poor start in life so well done girls!

Egg Count - May

As the end of the month has passed it's now time for another egg count. I think I forgot to do April so you won't have seen the massive spike in activity - they were obviously enjoying the Spring weather!



May saw a bit of a dip (although certainly not anything to complain about). In April we were regularly getting 4 a day but in May we had a number of problems - the egg eating started which we think was brought on by some soft shelled eggs. Luckily it looks as though it hasn't turned into a bad habit and they only eat the soft shelled ones, which are must less frequent this month. We think they happening partly because the older girls are getting on a bit and because of their battery farm days they probably don't have much more laying in them - but we also think it might have been because we were feeding them too many treats. In the worst type of parenting technique we kept giving them corn and kitchen scraps to shut them up if there were wingey. We're now being much more harsh and they're not getting treats until evening and only a little, and that seems to be much better.

At the moment we are getting 3 a day most days, athough they don't seem to like this weather and we have had a little dip again.

So concludes your monthly egg report!

So many things!

Well, where do I start. I think I've been rather tardy again and it's been a month since my last post so plenty of things to update on.

In the garden the flower bed is looking wonderful - full of colour with bees buzzing around all over the place. We have two giant Iris as well as a host of Alliums on one side of the bed (the purple side!) and an amazingly successful Lupin on the other side fighting for space with the Acer, which also looks lovely at the moment.




The girls are also doing well - we're getting three eggs most days and today they produced 4 just to impress our visitors from Basingstoke. They have taken a liking to lemon balm (which is fine by me because I dug it up last year and it refuses to go!) which they are all enjoying in this photo:



Now to the allotment and boy have we been busy. The broad beans are all in flower (and are now being attacked by black fly - grrr - which the ladybirds are doing their best to keep under control), as are the peas. The first early potatoes are a dissapointment but the second earlies and maincrop are doing well. We also has courgette, squash, cabbage, cauli, purple sprouting and calbrese, celery and a whole host of fruit (strawbs, rasps, red and blackcurrant, goosberry and tayberry). Much excitement this week when we had our first peas (one pod each!) and strawberry - we were so eager to eat them that I didn't get a photo but I do have these as a bit of a summary:






We've also been doing some building work on the plot with avengance - we've built ourselves a fruit cage. I foolishly discovered that I haven't yet taken a photo of it but needless to say it's great (!) - made entirely from pallets, we only had to buy the netting and the nails so we have a 5x2 metre fruit cage for only £40 - bargain! I will try to post a photo soon but my "parent blog" (te he) is slightly suicker than I am so you're likely to see it here more quickly. In the meantime though, I can show you this rather smart brassica cage that Matt made as well as him posing as "man about the allotment":

So much to say!

I've had a request for a blog update because I've been a bit tardy once again! Part of the reason that I haven't updated recently is because the garden and allotment is just so full or things to be done and these, along with working and trying to fit in a PhD as well as about a billion weddings and hen dos leaves very little time!

But I really can't complain because everything is looking so lovely with Spring well and truly here!

Here's a summary of the goings on in the garden. Now, I want you to start singing the tune from The Gallery as you look through these:

I love this plant but can't for the life of me remember what it's called. We got it last year from the Tonbridge garden fair, which has sadly been cancelled this year. This year it's so much bigger than last, it's just lovely:



The bed is getting nice and full as the perennials from last year come back to life again:

The 100 Allium bulbs that I planter are starting to flower, which is so exciting because I LOVE alliums:





Gavin The Apple is flowering nicely, although his sister Laxtons is being a bit rubbish and hasn't flowered yet. Last year Laxton provided all of our 2 apples so looks like Gavin is trying to prove he's up to the job!





Not to be out-done, the girls also wanted to say hello. Hythe does like to stand up as high as she can so that she can see what I'm up to, so here she is on her favourite perch. The other girls never get the chance to perch while she's around! We are having a mini-chicken crisis at the moment - we caught Hythe and Bell eating an egg the other day and, as our copy of Home Farmer which arrived today told us, this is a habit which is hard to beat, and they basically recommend culling any chickens that pick the habit up! We obviously won't be doing this so we are just going to keep an eye on the situation and play it by ear but we are more than a little concerned. I'll keep you posted.



Down on the allotment, the flowers are also blooming, with these lovely blue (and pink!) bells welcoming us in:




Our peas are starting to get nice and big and strong, so we're constructing a climbing frame for them! This hazel and wire structure is going to be strung up for the peas to clamber up:



We've also taken the risk and planted out some of our Spring/Summer cabbages (keeping some in the greenhouse, just in case!) and given them a pigeon proof cage!



We've also put two of our courgette plants out, under a little glass shelter. We visited them today after a chilly morning and they seem to be doing ok, but we also have some plants in the greenhouse at home to see how they get on:



Finally, the stuff that has been on the plot for a good while now is all doing well. the Broad Beans are looking strong:



...and the fruit is all doing brilliantly. This is one of the tonnes of strawberry plants that we have that originated from our 2 "parent" plants which we got about 4 years ago. They are all flowering like mad! This is why they call it The Garden of England!



Generally, the allotment is going really well. We have made all but one of the beds and have been digging like crazy to reduce the clay and increase the soil! We found a stash of top soil near the river and have been ferrying claggy clay out and nice top soil in. It's really making all the difference. I just can't wait until it all starts growing properly!

We apologise for the disruption to your service...

...but time just seems to be going at a million miles an hour at the moment - I can't believe its April! So, quite a few updates from me:

The garden is coming to life at last - we have loads of little daffs dotted around the garden and we have got some new willow edging - it was from the 99p store so it's not the best quality but once the grass has recovered from the wet winter and the plants have grown up I think it will look nice.




The veg has also started growing - peas an broad beans on the allotment and these super fast growing peas in the greenhouse. We have also put up a second mini-greenhouse so will be sowing lots more crops over the Easter weekend.



The front garden is also starting to look good:



The helebores that we planted last year have established and there are loads more flowers than last year. They look great:



I haven't managed to get to the allotment for a couple of weeks - we had a wedding last weekend and I have been working lots in between but the weekend before last I had a friend to visit so we took her down for some hard labour and we rustled up this bench:



The chickens are also doing well. the two new girls, who have now been with us for a couple of months, are much more like chickens now and are both laying. We think it was one of them that produced this monstrosity, poor love must have been in agony:



Blue, who we were so worried about when she first arrived, has really got bold and has developed an unhealthy obsession for corn. Here she is feeding from my hand:



The most exciting update though is in the house. After ripping off our wall cupboards we have FINALLY got around to putting in the shelves. The walls aren't quite finished in this photo but the shelves are up and they look brilliant. I don't think this photo does it justice but you'll just have to take me word for it - brilliant!



I think that's all for now but we're off to an auction tomorrow so I'm hoping we'll have more to post later in the weekend!

Egg Count - January 2010

Slightly deceptive this month because of course we have 2 more hens so it is probably more like 31 for comparison purposes but Bell has got off to a stonking start.



Blue still doesn't appear to be laying but is eating plenty so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she'll gain some confidence soon. We had 3 eggs today, from Rom, Hythe and Bell. We also had egg sandwiches for breakfast with lovely golden yolks.

P.S. Much excitement this week as our new copy of Home Farmer arrived and there, on page 41, was a quote from yours truly! I had commented on their blog about growing enough food for 52 meals a year and they obviously liked what I said. Hurrah!

In the garden and on the allotment

Our aim for this weekend has been to get the chickens together in harmony. We knew it wasn't going to be easy so we just braced ourselves. On Saturday morning we let them all out in the garden together, to give them space. There was a fair bit of fighting and each pair stayed at a good distance from the other but gradually they came together.



The "new girls" decided to explore the main run and we gradually herded them all in together.



You can see in this picture that they still stayed quite seperate for a while. The two "old girls" perching very helpfully at the front here to demonstrate.



They all got into the house together last night without any help and with relatively little bother. Rom and Hythe were very wingey this morning, I don't think they like having interlopers in their home, but they settled down. I am in the dining room and keep hearing little squarks from outside as Rom asserts her authority over Blue - which is quite mean as Rom is the biggest and Blue the smallest of the flock.

After her initial aggression Bell seems to have settled a little and, as promised, we managed to get a photo of her. The difference between them is the way their combs flop - Matt can't remember who is who so just calls them Left Flop and Right Flop at the moment. Bell is Left Flop:



In this photo she is taking after her older sisters and has taken a liking to digging in the strawberry bed, which is not very helpful.

The other update is on the allotment. We found some time to pop down there this afternoon. In fact, Matt is still there but I pulled my back this morning so have had to come home.

As you can see, we now have 6 raised beds and the fruit bed at the back as well as our "utility" area with the compost and water butt.

6

These are the fruit bushes that we have put in. Raspberries on the left (about 8) then red goosberry, 2 blackcurrants and a red currant. Not as evenly spread as I would have liked because some of the bed is waterlogged but this might help with harvesting later on.



We also took down the first of our stuff for composting - 1 week of kitchen waste and 3 weeks of chicken waste on a twiggy base to make sure it gets plenty of air. I think this should give our first compost batch a great start!