Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Today was productive. Very productive! With my husband's help, we managed to clear most of the plot of weeds. The sunshine and rain over the past two weeks has meant the weeds have gone berserk. I armed my husband with the WolfGarten soil tiller and left him with instructions to clear the weeds on our... Continue Reading →
Rather upsetting news from the plot today. When my husband went down to the plot he found Roxy, our speckled Sussex bantam rescue, had passed away. She packed a huge personality into a tiny (sassy!) body and Trixie and Foxy will miss her desperately. Roxy was abandoned at the allotment gate with two other hens... Continue Reading →
After being away for a week, I discovered that the weeds had made good inroads into colonising the plot. It's incredible how fast they grow especially with rain and sunshine. Despite it being a busy day at work, I dashed down to the allotment as soon as I could to try and clear some of... Continue Reading →
After a frantic day trying to sort out everything for a trip, I ran down to the allotment. I filled the food bowls up to the top and refreshed the water in all the coops. Nursing a minor scratch to the face courtesy of the littlest bantam in the new coop, I threw out the... Continue Reading →
Today was a momentous day. Finally, after five months of flockdown, DEFRA have finally lifted the housing mandate, meaning the chickens can roam the garden at last! I opened up both Omlets and encouraged the Silkies and Ancient Ones to come out. They were incredibly reluctant but eventually, with some bribery, out they came. The... Continue Reading →
Today, the sun was out and the sky was blue so I headed out to the allotment armed with a huge list of things to do. As I arrived and walked towards the plot, I heard a loud buzzing ahead. As I passed Phil's plot, I discovered the source of the noise - one of... Continue Reading →
I pottered down to the allotment this evening for a quick visit, just to collect eggs and check on the chickens. I was totally unprepared for the carnage that greeted me on my arrival. As I walked down the back path, I pondered the loveliness of the weather, despite being windy, the sun was out... Continue Reading →
I leapt out of bed this morning and dashed downstairs to check on Cirrus and her chick. From the frantic high pitched cheeping I knew that it was hiding somewhere under Cirrus. Cautiously, I lifted Cirrus off the eggs to find a tiny white ball of fluff. Unsurprisingly, Cirrus was not impressed and pecked me... Continue Reading →
After work, I pottered down to the plot to feed the chickens. As usual, as I approached the shed, Roxy's loud shout went up, quickly followed by Trixie and Foxy. You really don't need a guard dog to alert you, just have chickens! They refused to quieten until their beaks were buried in their refilled... Continue Reading →
I ambled down to the allotment this morning, not really sure what I planned to do. For good measure, I brought down one of the trays of potatoes to plant and of course, the chickens needed cleaning and feeding. The sun was out and although there were some dark clouds, there was enough blue to... Continue Reading →
After lunch, I pottered down to the allotment, determined to finish planting in the greenhouse and to clear some of the weeds from Geoff's raised beds. Last year Geoff kindly let us grow some vegetables on his plot and I have been meaning to clear the beds for him so they were ready for him... Continue Reading →
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 →
Today was a day spent running between home and the allotment. Our first job today was to get the roof on the shed in the garden. In order to improve the strength of the roof panels, I added some extra batons to the edges. My hope was that this would not only stabilise the roof... Continue Reading →
Today was a very exciting day. A day that for us chicken keepers means the end of months of lugging gallons of water down to the site. On days when the coops needed cleaning out, I would occasionally have to do two trips, one for the chickens drinking water and another to collect enough water... Continue Reading →
I sprung out of bed this morning, threw on my wellies and headed out the door before breakfast to feed the chickens. The sun was out, the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue and although it was still a bit nippy, it definitely felt warmer than a few weeks ago! In the Omlet, I... Continue Reading →
Finally today, the weather cooperated which meant we could put up the shed! Between us we spent a while shifting around the different sides of the shed to work out the best way to orientate it. After some discussion, we decided on having the window facing the house and the door facing down the street.... Continue Reading →
This evening as I wandered around the garden, shutting in the chickens, I realised I had forgotten to collect eggs! As I opened up the Silkies nest box, I found Asperitas and Cirrus closely cuddled up together..it might be more accurate to say that Asperitas was squashing Cirrus but I prefer to think of them... Continue Reading →
Today marks the beginning of spring, at least according to the chickens. They have yet to inform the weather which although bright, was quite cold and windy today. As I walked down to check on the Little Weed Destroyers, they all greeted me enthusiastically. Such a welcoming sight was only slightly spoilt by Roxy mistaking... Continue Reading →
Today, the sun was out, the sky was blue and I finally managed to clean out both chicken coops at home. To thoroughly clean both Omlets, get them dry and put in new bedding took the same amount of time as it takes to clean the wooden coops on the allotment. I know Omlets are... Continue Reading →
It's been an exciting day! After waiting impatiently for over a year, the Fylde Fancy Fowl advertised that they finally had painted silkie pullets available! I confess, I may have let out a small shriek of excitement, startling my husband. I immediately messaged the breeder and reserved a gorgeous painted hen. Thankfully, my husband had... Continue Reading →
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