Adventures in the life of an English allotment
The oppressive heat continues, more like mid July than early September. With the week looking increasingly busy, I bribed my long suffering husband to come down and help out. An offer of sausages for lunch, cooked outside the shed definitely helped! As the door of the shed opened, we were hit by a wave of... Continue Reading →
After spending the entire day wrestling with seemingly endless paperwork and cramming in a visit to the vet with a grumpy cat, I finally managed to get down to the allotment at five o'clock. To say that the chickens were unimpressed with my tardiness was an understatement! I opened up the Omlet door and let... Continue Reading →
It was meant to be just a quick visit to the allotment this morning to check on the chickens before having family arrive. I stopped to say hello to the Weed Destroyers and bundled them a large handful of kale to keep them happy whilst I refilled their food and water bowls. Down in the... Continue Reading →
This morning was a total wash out. Really heavy showers and high winds which saw me curl up on the sofa and watch the Olympics until it stopped. After lunch there were signs of a break in the rain so I grabbed my keys and ran down to the plot. Releasing the Weed Destroyers, I... 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 →
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 →
After spending this morning working, I dashed down to the allotment to feed the chickens. My plan was to just pop down quickly. As it turned out, I spent a manic four hours running around the site trying to complete several jobs simultaneously! The British weather has decided to try to emulate the Mediterranean climate.... Continue Reading →
My arms may never be the same again after today. Digging out the coop is by far my least favourite job and one that I dread due to the inevitable back ache, arm ache and exhaustion that follows a full day of digging, filling up wheelbarrows and lugging it all over the plot. I started... Continue Reading →
And so as the January weather continues to make the third lockdown more miserable than the last, I escaped down to the allotment for some fresh air. Over the past couple of weeks, I have told myself that I must clean out the main coop. In winter, with the water supply off, the freezing temperatures... Continue Reading →
This morning I ambled down to the allotment to clean out the greenhouse. It's been overdue for a few days and we managed to get hold of some new shavings late last night before the shops closed for Christmas. I arrived on site and stopped to say a quick hello to Geoff. Due to the... Continue Reading →
With the rapidly impending DEFRA deadline for ensuring every coop is secured against wild birds, we dashed down to the allotment armed with a 50m roll of scoffolding netting and a bag of cable ties. Unfortunately, there have been a a number of bird flu cases in Cheshire and across the UK over the past... Continue Reading →
The main challenge we have over winter is trying to keep the chickens off the mud in their coop. Every autumn, we put in a layer of chippings and hope they last the winter. Unfortunately, this year, despite a thick new layer being added in September, the chickens are back on mud again. However, our... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment ready to clean out the main coop. It's a long job that is made more difficult in winter by the temperature and the water on site being turned off. Happily, the warm temperatures in November have meant that the water is still on which makes this job... Continue Reading →
The last two days have been significantly warmer and with more sunshine, the usual brightness that heralds the start of autumn. It lulls you into a false sense of security before the autumn storms start. The sunshine has meant that the winding down at the allotment has been slightly delayed but there is a feeling... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I walked down to the allotment ready to sort out the enormous builder's bag of mulch my husband dropped off outside our greenhouse last night. There was far too much for me to use but I took the opportunity to finish off the fruit section. Each time we get chippings, I always forget... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment armed with antimite spray ready to do battle with the coop. I had borrowed a pressure spray contraption from Cliff to make the job faster. It's an important job but it always seems to take forever to do. Before I started, I checked on Pop and Leia.... Continue Reading →
This evening something miraculous happened. In fact, two! I ran into Geoff as I arrived and we went to look at Pop in the greenhouse. There she was, standing tall and looking proudly at us. It's no mean feat to stand after nearly three months of being unable to. What astounded me even more was... Continue Reading →
After a rather sad start to the morning, I walked to the allotment hoping that there wouldn't be anything wrong with any of our other girls. Fortunately, all the others seem to be ok and Pop seems to be going from strength to strength. I joined Cliff and Koko for a chat whilst Pop spent... Continue Reading →
Yesterday when I cleaned out Leia and Pop's coop, I had moved Leia into the top section of the nest box and dumped Pop rather unceremoniously in the Plymouth Pear tree pot. I was halfway through clearing away the old bedding when I heard some clucking coming from the pot behind me. There was Pop... Continue Reading →
This morning I got down on site early as today was the day for cleaning out the chickens. It's a long job, usually taking a couple of hours. However, today it took all day. Part of it was my fault for getting distracted with other jobs partway through. Having to go home to sell a... Continue Reading →
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