It is with a weary resignation that poultry owners read the news that the next Flockdown will begin on the 7th November today. Considering the massive cases of avian flu throughout the year, it had a feeling of inevitability about it although that doesn't make the Flockdown any more welcome. My main frustration is the... Continue Reading →
Planting in the Greenhouse
This afternoon, we dashed down to the allotment to drop off supplies for the chickens and compost bags for the greenhouse. My husband dumped the food outside the main coop and got busy digging over the beds. Periodically, he threw some weeds into the Omlet for the Little Weed Destroyers. The lack of Trixie caught... Continue Reading →
Busy, busy, busy!
What a day! I can't remember the last time I spent a full day at the allotment, work has been so busy! I arrived down on site at about half nine, determined to finish hoeing the plot. A mere fifteen minutes later and the job was done! I love my WolfGarten tiller, it makes life... Continue Reading →
A Different Allotment
Early this morning, the three of us (Derek, Sarah and myself) drove across Crewe to visit Hulme Street allotment. We were met by the Warden and a member of the committee. As it turns out, the committee oversees three sites (Ford Lane, Hulme Street and Walker Street) with each site having a Warden to deal... Continue Reading →
Drowning in Weeds
Up and out early this morning after making a few phone calls. The sun was out again although the temperature was distinctly cooler than yesterday morning. On site I found Derek busy clearing Plot 8. It's in a dreadful mess after a couple of years of flooding and minimal cultivation. I joined him but didn't... Continue Reading →
A Hornet…?
This afternoon, we dashed down to the allotment to measure up the pond in the community garden. The old liner has worn and there's a leak somewhere. Despite attempting to raise the water level, it keeps dropping which confirms the need for a new liner. Andrea has recommended a Firestone liner which comes with the... Continue Reading →
Main Coop Upgrade Begins!
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 →
A Little Bit of Everything
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 →
Coop Building Part 2
This morning after completing several errands in town, I arrived on site determined that the base of the chicken run would be finished today. Cliff appeared and explained his new idea for the base. Rather than put the concrete blocks running parallel to the base of the run, place them perpendicular. This would mean the... Continue Reading →
Lunch
Today I ambled down to the allotment with a few minor jobs in mind. I arrived and fed all the chickens. Every single one of them shouted at me, like I could stop the cold wind or make it warmer! I collected five eggs from the main coop and one from Roxy in the greenhouse.... Continue Reading →
Winding down for Winter
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment to make a start on autumn jobs. It's always the part of the year I dislike most as harvesting is slowing, the weather changing and the nights draw in. In the greenhouse, Pop and Leia were busy scratching for food they had thrown all over the floor.... Continue Reading →
Beavering Away
I arrived down on site at midday today, determined to do some more weeding and cleaning out the greenhouse. When I arrived, I spent a few minutes sitting in the shed, looking at the plot. I am so pleased with how it has transformed this season. The new sections have made my life much easier... Continue Reading →
Building a Chicken Wheelchair
So after some online research and browsing of an Austrian webpage, I discovered chicken wheelchairs are actually a thing! Unfortunately, the only place I could potentially order one for Pop was in Australia and there weren't posting to the UK currently. Undeterred, I asked on a chicken forum whether anyone else knew about wheelchairs and... Continue Reading →
Late night weeding
This morning I ambled down to the allotment, enjoying the sunshine which has appeared from nowhere. Everyone had come down to their plots to make good use of the rare break in the weather. I had a quick chat with Geoff, Brad and Andy before heading down to the coop. I put Pop outside and... Continue Reading →
Never board at the Allotment
Today was an epic long day at the allotment. I arrived with one plan but ended up doing something else. Initially, I went to have a look at the stumpery. It's looking much better although I decided there was no point in re-organising the logs until we had enough to fill the stumpery. Pondering what... Continue Reading →
Building the Stumpery
Today was a very busy day at the allotment. I got down early to make sure I had fed the chickens before receiving a cockerel from a colleague who took three of our work chicks. Unfortunately, she can't keep Napoleon so I had arranged for a local farmer to come and collect him. Abi arrived... Continue Reading →
And then there were 5!
Today was incredibly exciting. There really isn't anything quite like the excitement of waiting to see if a broody has been successful. When I first arrived this morning, I spotted one eggshell so I knew Leia has managed to hatch one. Considering how she mucked about at the start, I was amazed she had got... Continue Reading →
Logs, Rocks and a Skip
We were down on site early this morning, ready to help load up the skip with all the rubbish on the car park. The pile has been steadily growing for weeks and I wasn't sure even the world's biggest slip would fit it all in! Our first foray down to the car park found no... Continue Reading →
The day when everything happened
I walked down to the allotment this morning, never dreaming of how much would happen. There are weeks when nothing much happens then everything seems to happen on a particular day. Today was that day! After saying hello to everyone, I began to clean out the chicks. Steve dropped by and said they looked a... Continue Reading →
Beaten by the Heat
Late morning, we walked to the allotment excited to see how many chicks Cliff's broody had managed to hatch. The heat was already climbing significantly and we knew we would have to wait until evening for it to be co enough to do anything other than feeding the chickens. We arrived to find a few... Continue Reading →
Recent Comments