As an urban allotmenter, with the dream of one day running my own smallholding, follow my successes, trials and tribulations on the allotment as I strive to become self sufficient. I hope you enjoy.
I said there was something magical going on today...
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...as I collected my potato sacks to head up and lift my potatoes, one stray leftover had turned into a Christmas Bauble!
On the 29th January we got our three hens. We decided on three different breeds - a Splash Orpington, Crested Legbar and a Cemani. They would give us three different coloured eggs (blue, brown and white) and the Cemani is good winter layer (so I am told). Having been beaten by the weather, they spent the first week in the greenhouse while I finished building their house. That was actually quite good thing in the end as they gave the ground in the greenhouse a thorough weed, rake and fertilise ready for sowing. Having got them at 6 weeks of age, they were not yet ready to lay (usually 18-24 weeks old is when they start) but each day we still checked for eggs. I closed off the nest boxes at first so as to not get them into the habit of sleeping in there. This is a really easy habit for the chickens to get into, but a hard one to break. We don't want them soiling the nest boxes and eggs! Knowing that the day was getting close, last week, ...
I got home from work while it was still daylight today so took the opportunity to pop up to the greenhouse for a few minutes. Over half term, I sowed a number of different seeds and today I have seedlings! Both the 'All the year round' cauli and the basil have germinated in the greenhouse. True to it's name, this little beauty does grow all the year round! Nothing else poking through yet, but I remain confident. I pruned my sage back in passing too today. All the clippings in a carrier bag in the freezer so I'll still be able to use it for (mostly) sage and onion stuffing throughout the winter. On my onion bed, it's still a case of man vs. magpie. As quickly as I poke the sets back in, they pull them out. At least I can see that the sets have roots and shoots so it shouldn't be long before they hold their own and the magpies lose interest (fingers crossed). Anyway, the magpies have found a much more lucrative past time...flying into my bird feeders and shaki...
After much deliberation I've decided on my chicken run. In reality, the biggest factor was cost, but once my budget was set, I was looking for quality, floor space and the ability to stand up inside to clean it out. This one has approximately 36sqft of floorspace and comes in at about 5ft tall. I will have to stoop, but it allows me in easily to tend the birds. I'm aiming for three to start with, but know these things have a habit of growing in number. Whilst I was doing my research, I had a number of locations in the garden in mind. Now I've chosen the coop, I have to site the thing. And that's easier said than done. So I've build it in sections and carried it out to the garden, placing it in various points around the garden. It looks like I'm going to have to move the fruit bushes as it looks best right where I put them in. Not a problem, I just need to wait for the ground to thaw as it's been frozen solid for the past two weeks. I'm going to...
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