Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Today I walked down to the allotment in the sunshine! The British weather is notoriously fickle and after many days of overcast weather, we finally had a warm spring day. Until it started to pour with rain. On and off giving the perfect example of April showers! I checked Dolly first and she seemed reasonably... Continue Reading →
Today I dashed down the allotment to check on Dolly. She has a blocked crop on one side and I tried (and failed) to get a dose of cider vinegar down her. When I went in this morning, she didn't look much better. I managed to catch her and tried to get out some of... Continue Reading →
Today was the first day of lockdown due to coronavirus in the UK. No one is to go out except for specific reasons such as medical appointments and once a day for exercise. Fortunately, allotments look to be one of those reasons why you could be outside due to the need to feed chickens. Taking... Continue Reading →
With some hope of a dry few hours, I popped to the allotment this morning to try and clean out the chickens. It's been a job that I have intended to do for the last 4 weeks however, the weather has had other ideas. I arrived on site to find the usual selection of faces... Continue Reading →
Work has been crazy the last few weeks and I have barely made it down to the allotment, let alone had time to post an update. Now however, this shall be rectified! Over the past few weeks the weather has been horrendous, repeated deluges, high winds and cold snaps so it has been difficult to... Continue Reading →
Over the last couple of weeks the deluge has continued. I have given up hoping the plot will be dry enough to dig over before Christmas. I suspect I will now have to wait until the spring as the next torrent of water is due to arrive shortly. Today we bought six bags of landscaping... Continue Reading →
The weather has definitely taken a wintery turn over the last few weeks. The leaves have turned yellow and orange and begun to fall. The temperature has dropped significantly and the dark nights have drawn in. Today I went down the allotment with Fiona. We spent several hours cleaning out the coops which were long... Continue Reading →
This morning, free from the shackles of work, I walked happily down to the allotment. There were several people down at the clubhouse already so I joined Cliff, Coco, Steve, Chris and Mick the Greek for a while. I topped up Leia and Rey's food and water before hitting on a temporary solution to the... Continue Reading →
This morning I strolled down to the allotment to see if the ground had dried out. It hadn't. I give up - the weather either bakes the soil to a crisp or it's 6 inches under water! I went to the greenhouse and watched the chicks. When I arrived they were roosting in the nest... Continue Reading →
This evening my husband and I went down to the allotment to check on the chicks in the greenhouse. We found them both in the nest box together although the cream legbar looked a bit uncertain about being so close to Leia. She wandered about as I refilled the water bowl and picked up the... Continue Reading →
I walked down late this morning after doing some jobs at home. I found Geoff sitting in his coop with his favourite chicken on his lap. We had a quick chat about the weather before I mentioned about recording the cockerel crowing in Mick the Greek's coop yesterday. Curious about whether the cockerel would recognise... Continue Reading →
There are many different types of rain. Some comes at you sideways, finding every gap in your clothing and flooding it. Another is so light it's like walking through a fine mist. Today's was the British classic, drizzle. Unless you have lived in the UK, drizzle may need a little explanation. Drizzle is always accompanied... Continue Reading →
Today the heat was still horrendous but the temperature had dropped a little. Even better was the slight breeze which occasionally gave a brief break from the relentless heat. Due to the heat, I have been leaving the greenhouse door open to allow through flow of air overnight for the Plymouth Rock chick. I managed... Continue Reading →
Today was hot. Boiling. Rapidly approaching the temperature of the surface of the sun. At 5 pm, it was still 32 degrees. It's inhuman. I ran down to the allotment to refresh the chickens water. In the main coop, the water bowl was nearly empty. I refilled it to the brim and for good measure,... Continue Reading →
For the last few days, our Plymouth Rock chick has been struggling to stand and walk. At first, I thought it was because the other two chicks were picking on her. They were but her legs don't seem to be in the correct position and she seems to be in pain. On Tuesday morning, I... Continue Reading →
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