Despite the south of England enjoying a mini heatwave, up here we have reverted to the age old relentless rain. This meant that I couldn't use the mushroom dowels or clean out the chickens. Tracy was down and we spent a while checking the loofa plants in the greenhouse. It continues to grow at a... Continue Reading →
Back with a Bang
After spending a much overdue few days away, I arrived down the allotment this morning to find major changes had occured in my absence! As I walked through the gate, I saw Dave the Plod busy fiddling with something that suddenly spat out an enormous tongue of flame. It turns out, Dave was burning weeds... Continue Reading →
Rained off
I had decided that today was the day I was going to build the vertical garden using pallets, weed fabric and compost. As I opened up the curtains this morning, I was greeted with overcast skies and rain. Great. Plan suspended until the rain stops. Despite the rain, the chickens needed feeding so my husband... Continue Reading →
Reviving the Raspberries
Today I dashed down to the allotment worried about what state I would find Pop in. Upon opening up the nest box, I found Pop had shuffled forward so she had her head and shoulders out of the box. I picked her up and put her outside near the food bowl so she could enjoy... Continue Reading →
Planting in the Stumpery
This morning I ambled down to the allotment under an overcast sky. Despite the clouds, the air felt humid. Upon arrival, I went straight down to the main coop to check on Pop. I opened the nest box to find she had vanished. Previously, the absence of a chicken usually meant someone had popped into... 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 →
Starting the path
This morning I walked down to the allotment alone initially just to feed the chickens. The weather was not looking promising and I left my husband busy sorting out the lawn before it started to rain. As I first arrived, I spotted Steve de-miting the White Leghorn chickens from Phil's plot one at a time... Continue Reading →
Chicks go exploring
We dashed down to the allotment this morning early to sort out the chickens before going for a walk. Upon our arrival, we immediately checked that Leia had all of her chicks. She did. Whilst my husband went off to top up their food bowl and change their water, I watched Leia stretch her legs... Continue Reading →
A chick does a Houdini
I walked down to the allotment later this morning. There's something about Monday mornings which, even in lockdown, seem to take more energy then any other day of the week. Upon my arrival I sat and had a chat with Geoff and Andy. Weirdly, there were very few people down on site given the sudden... Continue Reading →
Buzzing along
Today I got down to the allotment early to check on Leia and her chicks. It was just possible she might have an extra chick or two. When I got to her coop, I counted five chicks and spotted three eggs remaining. With Tracy's help, we removed the eggs. It's important to remove them so... Continue Reading →
Rained off
After spending the entire morning waiting in for a delivery, I got down to the allotment late. There weren't many people down, just Geoff and a few others briefly checking on chickens. My first job was to put in the pond pump. The instructions made it seem absurdly easy. Put it together, put it in... 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 →
Feeding the bees
This afternoon I walked down to the allotment again to check on the chicks. Rey is almost completely fully integrated but the chicks are still keeping away from the others. When I arrived I couldn't see them as they were hiding under the nest box. I decided to weed a section of the plot. It's... Continue Reading →
Rain at last!
Waking up this morning, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Surely it couldn't be rain? Thankfully it was! The temperature has dropped significantly as well which is a relief. I grabbed my allotment kit and headed down, enjoying every drop of rain. Upon arrival, rather unsurprisingly, only a few people were down. I said... 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 →
Millie goes to Jail
The dreaded heat continued so I walked down just to sort out the chickens. Other jobs can't wait until it's cooler this evening! I stopped for a chat with Geoff, Andy and Tracy until it was too hot. Then I retreated into the shade of the main coop. Rey is getting braver although she is... Continue Reading →
A quiet evening
It got even hotter today. After a night of little sleep, my husband popped down to feed the chickens in the morning. I decided to hide in the house in front of a fan until the relentless heat dropped. The morning report from the allotment came back that all our girls were doing well, Leia... 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 →
Beaten back by the heat
It was hot today. Really hot. The forecast rain has yet to appear - there wasn't even a token cloud in the sky. I arrived down, briefly said hello to one and all and made a start on feeding the chickens. The chicks are continuing to grow well and are eating everything I put into... Continue Reading →
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