Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Yesterday afternoon, I arrived at the allotment mid-afternoon with no real plan. With rain forecast, I thought I wouldn't start on any big jobs. Once the chickens were fed, I let Roxy and Foxy out for an explore. Roxy immediately came out and began scratching but it took a while for Foxy to join her.... Continue Reading →
With the clouds looming and a forecast of rain, I dashed down to the allotment quickly this morning. All the chickens were present and correct with Tommy strutting possessively around the main coop. He is definitely starting to behave more like a cockerel and less like a marshmallow. With all the chickens fed and some... Continue Reading →
When I arrived on site, it was a blistering 26 degrees despite being mid afternoon. I opened up the shed and let Roxy and Foxy out to have a quick roam. Next I ambled down to the main coop to see how the chickens were getting on. Right by the door I spotted Hattie. Sometimes,... Continue Reading →
With the heat beginning to lessen, my husband and I walked down to the allotment to feed the chickens. As my husband walked between the coops, refilling the food and water, I got busy weeding around the Omlet watched closely by Roxy and Foxy. Much to their delight, I threw in several handfuls of weeds... Continue Reading →
The weather is absurd. When I woke up this morning, it was already 20 degrees. Knowing that it would 9nly get hotter, I dragged myself to the allotment to feed the chickens. Happily, most of the girls had enough water and I planned to pop back this evening to refill with cool water. Tommy has... Continue Reading →
So today saw the temperatures rise yet again. Landlocked Crewe is absolutely sweltering in 30 degree heat. It's utterly relentless, with no breeze to lessen the intense heat. Chickens are especially prone to hear stroke and days like today pose some danger. A fresh, cool supply of water is essential as birds don't sweat. Panting... Continue Reading →
Apart from feeding the chickens and checking that the new girls are coping in the main coop, we spent half an hour harvesting the first of our crops. As my husband got busy picking our white strawberries, I ran around making sure that all the chickens had a full water bowl. Chickens can't lower their... Continue Reading →
Despite having an allotment for over 7 years now, I can safely say that growing plants successfully is still a skill that alludes me. What I seem to be able to grow brilliantly, and without any effort whatsoever, is a wide variety of weeds. Personally, I think they sense my lack of ability and take... Continue Reading →
With the end of a truly dreadful week at work, I trudged down to the allotment. A few weeks ago, I spotted an advert for point of lay hens from a local farm. I contacted the farm and to my delight, found they had pullets available in two of my favourite breeds, Black Rock and... Continue Reading →
Over the last couple of days, the chicks have grown massively. The milliefleurs are feathering up rapidly, their beautiful light yellow fluff giving way to pale grey and cream secondary feathers. Even the smallest chick is doing well, keeping up with the others and cheeping as loudly! Trixy on the other hand, is moulting feathers... Continue Reading →
Today when we went down, we found Millie had passed away in the run. She had been struggling with some sort of problem with breathing and despite all my best efforts, she wasn't able to shake it off. Millie was a beautiful Welsummer, a breed which should lay gorgeous chocolate brown eggs. Weirdly, Millie's eggs... Continue Reading →
Spotting the rain this morning, I delayed going down in a fruitless effort to stay dry. As I was chatting to Phil, the heavens opened and we sprinted to our respective sheds to shelter from the pouring rain. After several minutes, it didn't seem to be stopping or even lessening. Resigning myself to getting utterly... Continue Reading →
Today was a manic day at the allotment. With no broody hens, I could finally clean out the new coop and whilst I was at it I thought I might as well do the other two. The first nest box was so much easier to clean now that Will has added hinges to the roof.... Continue Reading →
Another busy morning today saw me arrive mid-afternoon at the allotment. Upon my arrival, I walked down to the main coop to check on Millie. She seemed alright although she is clearly at the bottom of the pecking order. What was wonderful to see was that all of the girls were on the perches including... Continue Reading →
This morning when I checked on Trixy's coop to discover a dead chick. It was at the back of the nest and it was difficult to get to it without being eaten alive by an irate broody. Once I got it out I checked it over. There didn't seem to be anything particularly wrong with... Continue Reading →
This evening, I checked on Trixy's remaining eggs. One had a big pip in it but nothing seemed to be happening and Trixy is spending more and more time off the remaining eggs. Choosing to help the chick, I took it out of the broody coop. Slowly, I gently removed fragments of shell, trying to... Continue Reading →
When I checked on Trixy this morning, there was a new little arrival! Light brown and incredibly fluffy, I only caught a quick look before Trixy got in the way. By this point we had hatched one millefleur and two partridge bantams. The question was, would we get anymore? After work, we did another check... Continue Reading →
After spending the afternoon in the shed wrestling with paperwork, I gave up. Granted it was much nicer to look outside and see the plot with Roxy busy foraging away. But paperwork is still paperwork. My ancient laptop battery holds minimal charge but the solar power set up meant I could plug it in to... Continue Reading →
I got woken up this morning by my husband excitedly telling me he could hear cheeps from Trixy's cage! I leapt out of bed and ran downstairs. Sure enough, I could hear a high pitched cheep! Cautiously, we tried to move Trixy's feathers to have a look but she wouldn't let us anywhere near. Later... Continue Reading →
With the weather still dry, despite the promised torrential rain, I ambled down to the allotment with no particular plan. Upon arrival, I sat with Geoff and Mick the Greek and we put the world to rights. This is an absolutely essential part of allotment life - so many world issues could be solved if... Continue Reading →
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