Relaxing in the sunshine

Today I had a slow amble to the allotment, enjoying the sunshine on the short walk. Upon arrival, I bumped into Geoff and spent a happy hour nattering in the clubhouse.

When I left, I pottered to the greenhouse to say good morning to Emily and her chicks. They are growing massively and their cheeps are much stronger. Poor Emily looked a little frazzled, trying to keep her eye on all three fluff balls at once. I fed them and changed their water. Happily Emily seems to be relenting a bit and allowing me to change the water and food without fear of attack.

I then decided to sort out the other chickens. They were impatient to be fed and once the food was down, they ignored me. Until, I got out the fork. Then I was surrounded by a feathery blockade which seemed to specialise in getting heads and feet in precisely the most inconvenient places. Usually between the prongs of the fork. Eventually, I managed to turn over almost all the soil in the coop. Fizz, who has been a bit quieter than usual, got into the middle if everything and scoffed any worm within beak range. She seemed to perk up after some worms and enjoyed scratching in the soil so hopefully she is on the mend.

Next, I had a break and sat in the shade on the patio watching Emily and her chicks. It was swelteringly hot. As the heat lessened slowly, it was time to do something productive.

Potting on if the tomato plants Dave the Plod gave me was top of my list. I used one of the compost bins to fill several large plant pots before carefully transferring it into the new pot. Emily was not impressed when I started to put in the pits near her coop but she does need to learn to share her home, even if it is with half a dozen tomato plants!

On a roll, I then planted out the squash that Chris gave me next to the fennel. Hopefully it will grow well so it covers the ground between the fennel and the plum tree.

As a final touch, I planted out the blue hydrangea in one of the blue trugs and put it on the patio. Its rather wilted but I am hoping it’s because the shed has been so stuffy.

This evening, my husband and I popped down to the allotment to drop off a new sawdust bale and two bags of chick crumb. We closed the greenhouse doors to keep Emily and her chicks warm overnight.

Plan for tomorrow is to clean out the chickens in the main coop and hoe the plot.