bexsallotment

Update on Chickens

2009-07-08T18:40:00.003+01:00

Hi All.

Just a quick update on the chickens.

They are doing absolutely great laying 4-5 eggs a day.

Their feather are now growing back.

I now let them out of their run in the daytime when i'm there with them,i was worried at first that they may run off but the opposite,they will not leave my side resulting in me tripping over them and struggling to get much done because when ever i do anything they are there scrattching the ground when i have just sown seeds or walking on plants that i have just planted!!!

Also i have had to put rigid plastic netting around the beds to stop them eating my greens lol.

They love it when i move things around squabbling for any insects,slugs and snails.

Chicken house and run

2009-06-07T13:52:00.003+01:00

The last few days i have been busy making a new large run for the chickens.I have made it so i can walk in and also put on a plastic roof which i obtained from a friend who had taken their conservatory down.

The roof not only provides shelter for the hens but also stops other birds droppings into the pen and most of all is another roof for me to collect water from.

I am VERY proud of what i have made all by myself but now have sore hands,especially my fingertips :(

There is still a few minor adjustments etc to do but the ladies love it :)

The chicken house Hubby and i made from our garden shed.We cut off the bottom 18" off the shed all round and used this to make the nesting box which the chickens used straight away.

The shed was then lined with hardboard.

We then put in a small run with a hatch leading into it.

C H I C K E N S !!!!

2009-06-07T13:42:00.002+01:00

Well i am now proud to say that i am the owner of 5 little hens :)

I have had these now for 2 weeks today and they are already looking a lot better than when i collected them.

They are ex battery hen and collected from a rescue centre.The poor things didn't have many feathers but now showing signs of new feathers.They was also very scared and huggled up in a corner when i went near them,now they are taking food from my hand and come up to me when i arrive which is twice a day or more.

I am getting 4 eggs a day now,they have been laying since i had them,at first it was 3 a day but now 4 and i must say they are VERY yummy with dark yellow yokes :)

I have named 3 of them so far,Doris,Hilda and Bridgett lol.

busy busy busy!!!

2009-06-07T13:31:00.004+01:00

Well it has been some time since i posted on here.My last post was about planting my spuds and in this post i am about to tell you that today i have dug up my first crop of potatoes for this year!!!
Everything on the allotment is growing well dispite the lack of rain here,it's a good job i have plenty of water butts scattered around has thr rain is my only source of water.

Potatoes

2009-03-15T18:59:00.003Z

The potatoes are chitting nicely on my conservatory windowsill.
They are in a bright position but out of direct sunlight,oh and also out of view of Hubby,he doesn't know they are there because they are hidden behind the sofa LOL.
A couple of weeks and they will be planted,she says LOL :)

Peas

2009-03-15T18:52:00.002Z

Uncovered the peas to add another row of plants variety 'Meteor'.
The peas planted a few weeks ago are growing nicely with lots of flowers now.
Covered them up again with fleece.

Blue water butt

2009-03-15T17:37:00.003Z

Came up with a new idea for the blue water butt.
Instead of sawing off the lid completely leave about 5 inches and bend back.
Now you have a top the opens up to let rain water in and to close on a sunny dry day to stop evaporation....well i think it's a good idea :)

Filling the beds.

2009-03-15T17:23:00.003Z

Hubby and I managed to fill 2 of the raised beds today...phew what a back breaking job that was!!!
We must have moved just over 4 tons of the topsoil which was damp and made work harder but had to be done.
I am well pleased though but will not plant anything in them yet until after a rainfall because the rain is bound to sink the soil down slightly and then will need to be topped back up and then planting begins.

Raised beds & topsoil.

2009-03-15T17:14:00.002Z

Finaly got the topsoil delivered a few night ago,only 7 tons for now and 2 more loads to follow.
The soil is top graded,very pleased with it as when you squeeze it together in your hands it stays together which means it's a good loam.
The picture was taken after 6pm so quite dark.

2009-02-23T12:44:00.003Z

Transplanted my peas this weekend.They are in flower already!!!covered them with horticultural fleece until they get established then will recover with netting to allow the bees to do their bit.

Raised Beds

2009-02-23T12:35:00.002Z

Well now the weather has decided to warm up a little Hubby and I have been busy making the raised beds out of the scaffolding planks.
We made 6 measuring 13 ft x 5ft x10"deep..
We are now digging out all the weeds in the beds now they are in place.
The topsoil has been ordered,all 16 tons of it!!!!

2009-01-20T12:22:00.001Z

Low Cost Flights

2009-01-19T11:15:00.005Z

Had a delivery of scaffolding planks to make raised beds.

The centre of my allotment has very poor drainage so it makes it impossible to walk on any cultivated areas when it rains heavily.

With having raised beds i will be able to work on this area all year round come rain or shine.

The beds are in process but before i can put them into place i have to clear out the weeds and then going over the ground with the rotovator avoiding the marked out pathways.

Will post a photo of this next time :-)

January 2009

2009-01-19T10:56:00.005Z

Been absent for some time on this blog but i intend to keep it updated this year :-/

Been busy cleaning out my small raised beds which i call my salad beds.

I have added mushroom compost to three of the beds for peas and beans,garden compost to a few of the beds for carrots and parsnips and very well rotted horse manure for other goodies lol.

The horse manure as been under black plastic for over a year and half and now resembles cow pats!!!!

Covered a couple of beds with black plastic to warm up the soil so i can sow my carrots, parsnips and peas in the next week or so.

I am in the process of laying down thick black plastic around the beds,this will then be covered in wood chip/bark to make neat paths.

Spring has Sprung

2007-04-20T21:44:00.000+01:00

Hello .

What a busy start to the season already.

I have the majority of my plants in the ground already and it is only mid April,I am quite lucky because we don't generally get frost now where I am.

I have 3 types of peas on the go,one variety is Kelvdon Wonder which is approx 8" high now.

A few types of carrots which are mainly carrot root fly resistant.

Butternut squashes are doing well.I have 3 varieties this year.

Two types of courgettes one being yellow and one dark green.

Sweetcorn a few inches high growing with pumpkins.

Broad beans and french beans.

Sprouting broccoli and cauliflowers.

Leeks and onions and garlic.

Potatoes which are Maris bard,Deserrie,Nicola,King Edwards and Kestral.

Parsnips have been sown but no sign as yet.

Strawberry,gooseberry,currants are all in flower and the raspberries are full of bud.

Who would believe it is only April.

The cows in the field next to me are enjoying the good weather too with the calf's leaping around like lambs.

cucumber

2007-04-20T18:11:00.000+01:00

This is a photo of my cucumber plant growing in my conservatory.There is two cucumbers that are already approx 6" long and 12 plus smaller ones on the way and it's only mid April.

2007-01-31T15:59:00.000Z

January update

2007-01-21T18:37:00.000Z

Greetings to All
Went up to my lottie today,was cold but the sun was shining.
The main reason for going was to check for storm damage.Nothing realy apart from branches fallen off trees,a good thing realy has they do cast shade over the lottie.

While up there i was very surprised by a unexpected harvest....
Carrots,potatoes,parsnips,leeks and cabbage.
The leeks and cabbage i knew of and what i thought would be the odd carrot but to my surprise i bagged up half a carrier bag full of carrots.
I knew i had a small section of potatoes which i grew on the surface of the soil under black plastic....i thought these would be no good has they should of been harvested in autumn but when i pulled the plastic away there lay loads and loads of beautiful spuds some of which are big enough for baked potatoes.
The parnips was the biggest surprise.Again i knew they was there but i didn't think that they had developed so i just left them until today.Got a delightful shock when i decided to clear the bed,there laying in wait was a fantastic crop of beautiful sweet scented parsnips.
So all in all when i got home i had roast spuds,roast parsnips,carrots and cabbage along with roast chicken yum yum.

I know i was a bit late but i also prunned my raspberries while there and covered my rhubarb with large upturned pots without drainage holes to bring forward the shoots.
Was amazed to see the roses still in full leaf...one even had a small rose on.

Anyway i am now going to start making plans for this years crops with a few changes here and there of which i will let you know in time.

AUTUMN

2006-10-20T22:34:00.000+01:00

Had a wonderful supply of sunflowers.Here is a picture showing a container full of sunflower heads which i have cut off to dry out.The birds in my garden absolutely love them especially the tit family and the finches.I put the whole sunflower head on the bird feeding station facing upwards so the birds can come along and help themselves.
There is more than enough here to keep them going through the winter.

This is my rainbow chard.The leaves are cooked like spinach and the stems i like to cook in the oven wrapped in tinfoil with a knob of butter...yum yum.
It is still growing like mad,the more you pick the more it grows.
The colours range from white-yellow-orange-red.

AUTUMN

2006-10-20T21:58:00.000+01:00

Well the weather as been fantastic to say that we are halfway through October!
It is now starting to look like autumn now though with the leaves on the trees changing colour and the Robin echoing all around the garden,how sweet it is too!

Because of the long spell of good weather i have had an excellent year for carrots...this picture shows a bunch that i pulled in one go...i didn't thin them out but they still grew big and healthy,the picture doesn't really show their size,they are bigger than they look.

This is a picture of my brassica cage which is made out of 1cm square netting.My second attempt at making the cage as the first time around i used 1" square netting which allowed the cabbage white butterflies in.This time around it as worked well.

I have both savoy and hispi cabbages growing in there along with some purple sprouting broccoli.

The cabbages are forming lovely hearts so it will not be too long before they are ready.

LATE SUMMER

2006-09-09T20:54:00.000+01:00

This is my third batch of sweetcorn which is a late variety...the cobs are beginning to really swell now....i am still harvesting batch no.2.
The carrots was sown at the end of July so i would be able to harvest these for winter...they are growing a lot quicker than i expected them to.The variety is 'Flyaway'....I have had a fantastic success rate with these all season...really recommend them.

LATE SUMMER

2006-09-09T16:51:00.000+01:00

What an harvest i have had this summer!!!I am well chuffed with all my onions,the red ones are so strong in flavour,the picture shows just a few off them that needed to be dried off a wee bit more and the rest are in my shed in an hessian sack.Next to the red onions in this picture are my garlic corms which i grew from two corms from the supermarket...what a success they are.The other picture shows a large amount of shallots which i will be pickling most of very soon and saving some for replanting in autumn.Also i have a sack full of large cooking onions.

2006-06-22T23:47:00.000+01:00

Sweetpeas.Took this photo after i had stripped the plants to make several bunches of sweetpeas to take into work for my freinds,it is my birthday this Sunday so i took them in instead of cream cakes along with 3 carrier bags full of mixed veg,well they all tell me they are on diets :)
My youngest son Lewis doing a bit or should i say a lot of strimming for me,the weeds grow faster than the veg!!!
Yellow courgettes,had 9 courgettes off this one plant so far,yummy.I am also growing 'black night' which is a dark green variety.

These are one crop of my 3 varieties of sweetcorn,this one is 'minipop'.I have planted a pumpkin plant in the middle of them which was given to me a couple of weeks ago,it as grown a fair bit since i took this photo last week.

2006-06-22T23:31:00.000+01:00

This is one of my salad boxes,they are approx 36" x 48",i got them from hubby;s work,they are fold up crates that also stack onto each other to make deeper boxes...have 12 so far!In this box i have 3 rows of mixed salad leaf lettuces and 3 rows of baby beetroot.When thinning out the lettuce i pull the whole plants out and use them allowing the other plants to grow better.

Here i have beetroot growing in the forground followed by parsnips then red onions and behind them are hundreds of shallots.The rows are approx 20ft long....goodness knows what i am going to do with it all!!!Think i best save glass jars from now onwards for pickling.

2006-06-22T23:27:00.000+01:00

Hello All,
Well what a great June it has been so far.I have already picked one and half carrier bags full of peas and loads more yet to come.The peas are felthem first which was sown late winter.I have five other varieties on the go!!!!
The broad beans are nearly ready too,wish they flowered all year round because they smell absolutelt gorgeous.
I was amazed to see how quick my broccoli had grown,i am sure i only planted it out in April.....i have cut the main heads of several plants already,lots of side shoots to develope.It melts in your mouth,bootifull :)

Grass snakes

2006-06-19T21:47:00.000+01:00

Just come accross a family of grass snakes on my allotnent.They are nesting under the pond liner...because the pond is not at the full level the liner is easy to lift up.One of the snakes swam accross the pond and slithered under the liner,tht is how i found the nest....i had to be brave and lift the liner up with one hand while taking photos with the other....yikes!!!!

Pond

2006-05-07T21:13:00.000+01:00

Did some more work on the pond by extending it.I did this by digging out more soil around the sides so instead of them slopeing they are now fairly level to the ground making it easier for the wildlife to enter and exit the pond.Still lots to do!!!

Arches

2006-05-07T20:58:00.000+01:00

Hi,
Been very busy at the lottie the last few days.Finally finished making my walkthrough tunnel out of maple branches,it is for growing my sweetpeas up.Also made a similar one out of canes,this one is for my climbing beans.

Wildlife pond

2006-04-29T21:02:00.000+01:00

Planted some verbascum plants at the near side of the pond which i grew from seed along with some herbaceous plants i dug up and divided from home.Waiting for more rain to top the pond up.When it is fairly full i will then tend to the edges of the pond liner using a mixture of stones,broken slabs and plants to over hang the edges.Also i will be using tights filled with soil and shaped into boulders,i saw these at a garden show and they looked great because after a short time moss grows over them making them look real...i will post a photo of these when i have done them.I also used old tights stuffed with barley straw and a brick and sunk it in the pond,this will in time reduce the growth of blanket weed and keep the water clear.

The picture with a sheet of fleece in is where i have planted out my sweetcorn plants,it does't look it in the photo but the patch i have planted is almost 4mtrs long by 1.5mtrs.

UPDATE

2006-04-29T20:15:00.000+01:00

Hi.
Spent most of my day today at the lottie.Planted my second crop of peas,the variety is onwards,my first crop is felthem first.I have put twiggy sticks in for the peas to climb up,will add taller twigs in a couple of weeks time.My first lot of peas are already flowering,what a pleasure to see.I have also drapped net around the peas to keep the birds off but left the top open to let the bees in.Also planted out another crop of broad beans which are under the fleece tunnels.

Sown my salad crops in the wooden boxes which are 1.5mtrs x 1mtr,aquired them from hubby's work.In these i have sown carrots (under fleece),radish,beetroot,spring onions,mazuna,pak choi and rocket.In the first box is garlic which i planted late autumn,they are doing really well.There is also red onions(red baron) in the front of one of the boxs which i have grown from seed,these can be picked as spring onions or left to form as larger red onions.

First update 15 April 2006

2006-04-15T16:14:00.000+01:00

Hi. Spent four hours at the allotment today transplanting cabbage,broccoli,cauliflowers.Sown carrots,radish,pak choi,mazuna,rocket,swiss chard,beetroot and spinach.Planted several herbaceous plants around my wildlife pond which is full of tiny tadpoles!!

Lots of wee plants indoors getting ready for the lottie,lots more to be sown aswell!!

Going to attempt to make an arched walkthrough tomorrow out of long branches for my sweetpeas to grow over,if i am succesfull then i will post a picture of this!

All is looking quite good at the mo,the fruit bushes i planted earlier this year are now bursting with buds,the potatoes are pushing through the surface and ready now for the first hoeing up,the onions are starting to swell,the strawberries are flowering along with the blueberries and the rhubarb is bursting out.

2006-04-15T15:58:00.001+01:00

2006-04-15T15:58:00.000+01:00