Sorry, not too good at this regular update thing June 26, 2008

Well this house is failing at doing our blogs regularly, so I can now offer a brief update.  I’ve been out in the garden (allotment) tonight so I feel quite in touch.  Over the previous months we’ve had major failures (carrots almost totally failed for 2 crops, but now have a third set seeming quite strong) and some major successes (peas are now producing beautiful crops!).  The greenhouse re-site has worked well and is a tropical jungle of tomato plants and peppers (2 cherry tomatoes).

The chickens are all still alive (!) and we’ve had a fairly regular 3 or 4 eggs a day.  They are so lovely, and so social - although I’m a bit worried that they are so friendly when I do see them cos they’re a bit socially deprived.  Usual kids thing of slightly losing interest in pets after a while….

We now have cows in the field to the right, and sheep/lambs to the left.  Horses still in front of the house. 

The house and garden sound idyllic and in many ways they are, but we do suffer on other wavelengths - like no easy walking routes for prams / toddlers etc so ultimatly house/garden bound or car-dependant, no pubs easily visitable so limited adult time out, no close friends/neighbours so again no adult time out but also limited visitors and no-people-dropping-in.  I’m sure others in smallholdings might also feel these kind of things - especially where people have moved to it. But then a lot of people who have done that seem to be older and child-less so it’s a different experience/set of issues.

I remain positive, connected, learning and at home.  Just want to solve some other non-garden connection areas in our life.

We did have a very good party (nigey-fest) a few weeks ago and it seemed to work quite well.  Good bonfire, bbq, lots of drink and cocktails, decks/music/guitar in the garden til late/dark and all ages seemed to enjoy it.  I just need to sort out a way of actually enjoying my own parties rather than running around hectic trying to make everything work!!

Will get some pics soon!

Pic of chicks June 3, 2008

The girls are getting cuddly…. June 2, 2008

A chick update - a few times recently I’ve caught the 4 chick girls lounging somewhere in the sun, and this particular time there were three cuddled up together!!! Well cute.  The white one - toot identifiable due to more brown flecks on her back compared to Cindy - got up as I got the camera out but the other two stayed all relaxed and cosy!

 [bugger.... can't upload the pic at the moment.  will try a seperate post]

They’re doing very well - fairly reliable 1 egg per day each (so we’re building up 4 per day nicely) - and haven’t escaped much recently.  We’re currently debating the main plan to build a coop to more securely house them while we’re away in the summer.  Plus now have the shed which should form the basis of winter accommodation and possible increasing the flock for some for food.

It’s a free(cycle) world….. June 2, 2008

Wow, freecycle is pretty good - or at least the mentality behind it.  See the widget down to the right of the page for what we’ve had free.  I can’t believe people actually pay for stuff.  Especially things like sheds and greenhouses.  Ok, effort involved if you’re an old lady or something or if you’re really poncey and need a brand new swanky thing….. but come on….

So this now procured:

 (shown in it’s previous owners garden)

….. with a bit of effort to re-construct it with a bit of patching up to do but not too much.. mostly due to:

 

….. the immense amount of fun it is dismantling this kind of thing.  For a start it’s honest hard work, but so satisfactory as it’s quite quick to achieve something (as opposed to building something over weeks/months/years - like my friends doing their flat/homes that is taken them ages and ages so the benefit so long awaited and painful during the wait).  I ripped down the chicken coop last year, and this was similar.  So a few injured pieces of timber and a snapped hammer (!) but a few scrapped knuckles but lots of fun.

 

 

I commented at home too, that this whole new life since we moved here is finally making start to feel 1) useful beyond my IT techie career and 2) quite blokeish (as never previously been in a fight or had a ‘proper’ job!

I highly recommend both free stuff and trashing things.

BTW - shed is intended to be a chicken house at the bottom of the garden - target date 15 September 2008.

a proper update for mid-may May 18, 2008

Wow.  It’s all coming through.

Lots of updates for all the few but appreciated readers!

All been going well - seriously ran out of water the other day but then it rained for two days and everything got a nice proper drink. The potatoes are run-away climbers and a little hard to control/earth up! hope they’ll end up doing ok.

Greenhouse is doing well with now 2nd-littlest daughters’ tomatoes being first in line with some flowers coming through.  Chillies and spanish peppers basically failed but have some other chillies I bought now doing well and basil doing well too.

We’ve decided to make a few small efforts to make the house a little more pretty, so my hanging baskets and now some forget-me-nots and alyssum planted down the path at the front.

Note the nigey-bodge of not quite bothering to cut the line straight, or to make sure the plants were evenly spaced (mis counted and thought I had 15 not 12! duh!), and that the earth was even (as in moistness/color/type etc).  ah well.  might look nice if I can keep the grass from over-taking it.

I am Jamie Oliver… (maybe a bit less annoying?) May 9, 2008

If you look at the similarities:

- I recently cooked home made pizza at a party for my lad mates

- I have a preference for Sainsburys (although can’t afford it week to week)

- I have chickens at home and strongly support free-range ethics/culture

- I am enthusastic and active in growing my own veg and cooking with flavour

- I have a top totty wife and lovely daughters with nice names

- I’m bit of a southerner and can speak a bit cockney (my son)

Strange eh? TV show and loada money please!

less potato fustration…. more potato joy!! April 30, 2008

Went to check on the tatties in the rain today.  They’re popping up nicely and it’s a lovely moment of joy and pride when you realise things are working ok (again - 2nd year for us!)

 

In the main plot (center) we have - (earlies) Accent, pink fir, Jersey royals, ?bakers?, [main] King Edward, Desiree.  Then we have a couple of randoms in two tyre stacks to the left of the picture. 

To the right of the picture we have a random four plants that I cheekily chucked in at the end of last summer when I took up the sweetcorn plants.  Told dear her indoors the other day and she at the moment is saying we should leave them there although they are growing on the path and the roots plot.  :>  Q funny really.

Bets on how many potatoes in total we’ll end up having - last year 4 seed pots = 100 potatoes.  This year 27+2+4 = ? answers on a postcard please!

Question to readers too - how many seed potatoes can we fit in a tyre stack? (standard size tyres?)

nigeybodge? I think nigey-cunning!! April 30, 2008

The cunning greenhouse rain collection contraptions are a success!  Today was a manky heavy rain day and my rain collections worked really well - one was full when I checked before work and the wheelie bin on the other side had definitly increased at least a little.

 

The side shown above works really well with all the water draining to this end.  I duck-taped a cut-off coke bottle to the side of the greenhouse, put a kids’ drink bottle lid on it and duck-taped a hose to this.  Then the hose runs down to a knackered old plastic barrel I stole from the horsy neighbours.  The greenhouse guttering needed something to let the water drip properly in so I bodged-on a piece of scrap plastic (from a kitchen bin)!!! nice!!

The other side just has a scrap bit of plastic shoved into a hose which runs to a wheelie bin next to the greenhouse.  That side of the greenhouse isn’t sloped enough so water collects in the middle bit of it and not run very well into the hose and bin.  ah well.  I siphoned a load out of the main house water butt so I think I’m doing ok although am planning to transfer as much as I can to stash before a hopefully hot summer…

Part-way through weekend update…. April 26, 2008

Random wanting to post with some updates-:

- Finished raised beds with ends and top soil procured previously from freecycle.

- Admired many shoots now appearing in the potato area

- Transplanted many things including peas, brassicas, nastersiums etc

- Put up some more fencing to sort out the chickens who keep escaping next door!

- Syphoned waterbutt off to stash some rainwater for the coming anticipated dry spell

- Completed a nigeybodge/cunning solution for collecting rainwater off the greenhouse.  [another post with pics to follow shortly]

- Completed a nigeybodge to replace some glass in a shed thing here.

Busy busy busy……

interesting pea in transition to the outside world:>

 

And a funny find whilst emptying the waterbutt->

 Toddler admitted to putting a flowerpot, a small gardening kids’ rake, and an egg-box in there a few months ago!!

chook update April 21, 2008

 

First egg!! and happy hens - well…. the one that laid this one and a second yesterday (Cindy) seemed a little bit barn-sick and mopey. :< watch this blogspace as we try to cheer her up ……

One of the brown ‘uns seemed to like a little space at the foot of a tree in the garden,  they also escaped a few times to next doors’ garden - meaning we had to contain them a little towards the end of the day!