Adventures in the life of an English allotment
I received a call from Cliff this afternoon saying that Fizz was looking a bit ropey. She hasn't been herself over the last couple of days but my husband picked her up this morning and she was pottering around the coop when he left. Cliff found her huddled up and put her in the nest... Continue Reading →
Last week I finally got around to sorting out Georgie. She is one of our rescue ex-commercial layers who has developed a weird growth on the sides of her beak. Cliff had a good look and recognised it as an overgrowth. Apparently it can happen quite often but I haven't had any chickens with it... Continue Reading →
Aside from the cold weather, the sun has appeared the last few days, allowing the plot to start to drain. I spent a good deal of time on site today chatting with some of our new plot holders, Tracy and Andy. Everyone was in the clubhouse as I arrived and I even managed a cuddle... Continue Reading →
The last few days have been relatively dry and although there are still puddles, the rest of the plot is drying out. Or so I thought. Avoiding the puddles, I walked across the plot to grab the spade. Much to my horror, two steps in I lost my shoe and had to drag myself out... Continue Reading →
This morning I walked down to the allotment hoping that Holly would be back to her usual self. Unfortunately, she still looked very ropey. Cliff came to lend a hand with giving her a dose of cinder vinegar. As he opened up her beak I spotted some yellowish lumps at the side of her throat.... Continue Reading →
Work has been crazy the last few weeks and I have barely made it down to the allotment, let alone had time to post an update. Now however, this shall be rectified! Over the past few weeks the weather has been horrendous, repeated deluges, high winds and cold snaps so it has been difficult to... Continue Reading →
Over the last couple of weeks the deluge has continued. I have given up hoping the plot will be dry enough to dig over before Christmas. I suspect I will now have to wait until the spring as the next torrent of water is due to arrive shortly. Today we bought six bags of landscaping... Continue Reading →
This week we have been experiencing a deluge. Most of the plots have had puddles, lakes or oceans on them. As usual, our plot was pretty much entirely flooded although Keith's was definitely worse! The water did drain off but it took a few days and just as it was getting dry, we had the... Continue Reading →
The weather has definitely taken a wintery turn over the last few weeks. The leaves have turned yellow and orange and begun to fall. The temperature has dropped significantly and the dark nights have drawn in. Today I went down the allotment with Fiona. We spent several hours cleaning out the coops which were long... Continue Reading →
Sad news when I got down to the allotment this morning - Emily has died. She was a cracking chicken and an incredibly successful broody. The coop won't be the same without her. Geoff has done a stirling job of looking after her since she left her chicks. By my reckoning she must have been... Continue Reading →
This morning, free from the shackles of work, I walked happily down to the allotment. There were several people down at the clubhouse already so I joined Cliff, Coco, Steve, Chris and Mick the Greek for a while. I topped up Leia and Rey's food and water before hitting on a temporary solution to the... Continue Reading →
Today I had a chat with Chris about compost heaps. It's a topic that probably should be covered more especially as there are so many benefits to composting. Chris is a bit of a specialist at compost and I went across to his plot to see how he does his. The key to successful composting... Continue Reading →
I finally managed to get down to the allotment for a full day's work today. It's been a manic end to the summer and apart from running down to feed the chickens I haven't had a moment to do anything. The plot isn't quite as bad as it could be but the weeds are slowly... Continue Reading →
This morning I walked down to the allotment to make sure the chickens were all coping with the heat. They are prone to over heating and it is important to give them lots of water. On arrival, I found Leia and her buddy had been moved into the broody coop to protect them from being... Continue Reading →
This morning I strolled down to the allotment to see if the ground had dried out. It hadn't. I give up - the weather either bakes the soil to a crisp or it's 6 inches under water! I went to the greenhouse and watched the chicks. When I arrived they were roosting in the nest... Continue Reading →
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