Adventures in the life of an English allotment
So today was an interesting day. If broodiness was as infectious as Covid-19, I would have less broody hens. At home, Stratus was still sitting in the nest box, blocking Nimbus and Cirrus from getting into it to lay. I had arranged to collect six hatching eggs from Trixy's breeder this evening. As soon as... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I got a very exciting call from Cliff. I immediately dropped everything and, only stopping to grab my allotment key, ran out the door. When I arrived, I found Cliff was sitting outside his bench with two utterly adorable furry friends. The eight week old spaniel puppies are so friendly and happy to... Continue Reading →
Yesterday was so busy that I completely forgot to update the blog! Mid-afternoon I ambled down to the allotment, mainly to check on the chickens and to feed them. Four hours later, I was still on site covered in dirt with several blisters on my hands. It always seems to turn out this way! After... Continue Reading →
I ran down to the allotment this morning to do two things. First to dose up Millie and second, to check on Trixy. When I arrived, Trixy wasn't to be seen in the run. A good sign. Rather than disturb her, I walked down to the main coop. Both the bantams were hiding in the... Continue Reading →
Today we walked down to the allotment in the glorious sunshine. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. All three bantams were out enjoying scratching and dust bathing. It was interesting to see Trixy outside after her attempt at being broody yesterday. Yesterday, I had to extract the eggs she was determinedly sitting on. The... Continue Reading →
After the end of a very long and tiring week, there is nothing better than heading to the allotment for a day in the fresh air. Happily, it wasn't raining and the sun even put in a few short appearances! I checked on all the girls quickly before spotting Tracy with one of her grandchildren.... Continue Reading →
Up bright and early this morning for my Covid jab and it seemed churlish not to go down to the allotment straight afterwards. Sporting a rather dead arm, my plan was to feed the chickens before watching the world go by from the shed. The bantams greeted me with shouts, complaining about the lack of... Continue Reading →
After running a few errands around town this morning, I walked to the allotment wondering whether the rain would hold off. There had been intermittent heavy showers all morning. As soon as I arrived, I set up the stove and let the weed destroyers out. Sitting watching them is always fun and it's lovely to... Continue Reading →
Today was going to be the day that we moved the nest box from Andy's plot to ours. Quite how we were going to do it, I had no clue but it would be done somehow. When we arrived there were quite a few people on site who I felt sure we could rope into... Continue Reading →
So here we are. Mid-May and the weather closely resembles the dark, rainy weeks of mid January. It's so frustrating as this puts a hold on so many jobs on the plot. Furthermore, it means that the winter battle to keep the ground in the chicken coops from turning into a quagmire has returned. So... Continue Reading →
The skies were blue, the air crisp and there wasn't a rain cloud in sight when I arrived on site this morning. Lots of people were down, making the most of the dry spell before the inevitable rain forecast for the entirety of the rest of the week. I said hello to Geoff and Andy... Continue Reading →
This morning I walked down to the allotment armed with two large pet carriers. Geoff had asked if I could help move his girls from Andy's back into his large coop. I piled up the carriers next to the coop door and went to say hello to Steve and Geoff. We all talked about the... Continue Reading →
The weather has really not been what it should be for May. Almost no rain in April saw the allotment emulating the driest parts of the Sahara. The seemingly endless days of drizzle in May has provided enough water to make the weeds grow in abundance. Such are the difficulties when growing plants in the... Continue Reading →
This afternoon, I received a very exciting offer from a local chicken breeder - he had a year old porcelain millie fleur pullet he was looking to re-home. Unfortunately, someone else who had promised to take her kept letting him down with a myriad of excuses. When he discovered the coop hadn't arrived he refused... Continue Reading →
Occasionally, in between the rain and frantically busy days at work, I let the silkies roam the garden. It's so lovely to see them explore and enjoy time outside the coop. They continue to get more friendly and will now eat happily from a food bowl right next to me. They never stray far from... Continue Reading →
We had a sad phone call from Geoff today letting us know that one of our Rhode Island Red hens had suddenly died. Neither Aggie or Cassie had shown any signs of illness or discomfort so our best guess is a heart attack. Sometimes chickens do have sudden heart attacks, suddenly dropping down dead where... Continue Reading →
This evening, I walked down to the allotment to check on the chickens. Happily, everyone was busy enjoying the brief respite from the relentless rain of the past week. Roxy and Trixy greeted me with loud shouts and continued to holler at me until I had thrown in enough weeds to satisfy them. It took... Continue Reading →
Today was a plottering day at the allotment. One of those days where you arrive and don't really have much of a plan and spend the day drifting between little jobs. When I arrived, I immediately went to check on the girls in the new coop and say hello to Liz, Sarah and Andy. To... Continue Reading →
I ambled down to the allotment this evening to see how Snap and Sadie were getting on with the others. When I arrived Lilja and Leia were confidently walking around the run with Sadie and Snap hiding behind the perches. Rolling my eyes, I watched as Lilja and Leia took themselves to bed. Leia however,... Continue Reading →
An early start this morning saw me down the allotment and sorting out Roxy and Trixy wondering how on earth the nest box would be moved. To be honest, this is the panicked thought that has haunted me over the past few weeks. Will appeared around the shed door and said he and Cliff were... Continue Reading →
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