We have the Girls!

Yes, the day has finally arrived, well actually it's been and passed. Yesterday we travelled up to Durham and collected our four hens. We have a Rhode Rock, who has been christened "Mrs Pepperpot", a Coral Nick, named "Daisy", a Blue Haze, aptly known as "Hazel" and a Columbine who now goes by the name of "Chestnut". They all seem to have settled in well at their Winter home, though I did have to persuade Chestnut to go to bed last night, she was sitting in the pop hole doorway and at 10.30 I went out and forcefully 'persuaded' her to go inside the house so that I could close the hole. I knew there was a frost due and I wasn't sure how much 'cold' she would be able to stand. One thing that I have noticed today is that one of them seems to have very loose droppings, i'm going to have to keep an eye on this and if it prolongs then find out which one it is, I hope that none of them have anything wrong with them.

I have still to dig up the maincrop potatoes, the weather has been quite lousy over the past couple of weekends and with the nights drawing in, i'm not able to get to the plot on an evening anymore. I've got to make time one way or another.

Chickens - At Last!

We’re finally going to collect the chickens, though not till next weekend, as this weekend I’ll need to give the old ferret house/run a clean out and scrub down as it has been vacant since we lost Stitch in July. I’ve decided that for now, and over the winter months, we will have the chickens in the run in our back yard, it’ll need a few adoptions making to it, for example a nest box installing and a perch inside the house and some sort of scratching pit for them outside as it is sited on concrete, but other than a good clean it’s good to go. When the summer months come, we’ll take them to the allotment and leave them there in the run that I’ll have finished building by then (hopefully!).

We are having 4 different hybrid varieties, a ‘Blue Haze’, a ‘Rhode Rock’, a ‘Columbine’ and a ‘Coral Nick’. One grey, one black, one ginger and one white, so we shouldn’t get them mixed up and will definitely (I’d hope) know who is who, and the good thing is that they’ll lay different coloured eggs, well 2 will lay brown eggs but the other two lay either a cream or a blue/green. Again this will help us in identifying who has layed, how many eggs and when. All are supposed to be hardy, docile and friendly, all excellent layers, and all are happy in a run or free range. With credentials like these, what can go wrong, lol.

Other plans for the weekend include digging up the remaining potatoes before the first frosts arrive, here in Middlesbrough they can come anytime from the middle of October, so the sooner the potatoes are up and stored the better. Clearing the sweetcorn, I’ve got a recipe for some chowder, so I’m going to utilise my crop and make some soup and freeze it. Also there will be more winter digging, you have to get it done whilst the weather permits. Oh and there’ll be holes needed to be dug for the fruit trees. So with a bit of luck, I’ll have the entire weekend to devote to my allotment chores, it’s all good fun.

I’m Back to Let you Know …

I know it’s a long time since my last posting and a big thanks to Mangocheeks, you’ve motivated me into sorting myself out and let you all know how things have been progressing since my last entry. So non allotment related news, promise its short and sweet, I’ve had my summer holiday, a glorious fortnight chasing lions and elephants and giraffe’s around safari parks in Kenya with a little bit of sunbathing thrown in. Three years of dreaming, saving and waiting, it was definitely worth it! But back to reality….

So allotment wise, I left you with news that the orchard had been approved, and we’d had an application for a grant to establish some bee hives approved. Moving on, we’ve (the community group) been on a course to learn about the good and bad ways of planting your fruit trees and an order has been placed for some Apple, Pear and Plum trees, 14 in all, which should be arriving sometime in November, Yipee can’t wait, 14 large holes to dig, ouch, but it has to be done! There is another course to go on sometime next month regarding the pruning and upkeep of the trees. In terms of the bees, it’s still very early days yet, until some training can be sorted it’d be irresponsible to get a colony etc, but I’ll keep you informed as things progress.

The Plot! Well it was rather overgrown when I got back off my holiday, sweetcorn had appeared from nowhere, not a bean in site when I left, a great jungle of them on my return, I had courgettes ‘eight ball’ which were the size of footballs, onions, marrows, broad beans, cabbages, caulis and leeks had all grown and a mass of potato foliage. So since getting back, I’ve pulled up the onions and put them to dry for over-winter use. The beans have been cut down, and I’ve put some to dry for storage, again for casseroles etc over the winter months. I’ve been slowly digging up the potatoes, and should get the rest of these all lifted this coming weekend, again more winter storage and I’ll have to sort out the sweetcorn. Leeks and cabbages will be left in the ground for now.

I’ve started re-arranging the raised beds for the new rotation system, taking into account the little area next to my patch which I will integrate this next coming season, and I’ve been winter digging areas as they have become empty. Plans for the coming weeks, at some point I’ve got 4 fruit trees arriving (expected sometime before the end of October), these will be planted in my plot (separate from the community orchard), I’d already ordered these trees before the funding was approved for the community orchard, so I’ll have to sort out where I want them to go and start to prepare the ground for them. I have a vague idea but at the moment the area I’m thinking of is used for storing my wood pallets and bricks etc, so I’ll need to move all of these before I can start to dig the holes. No shortage of hard work ahead, at least it keeps me off the streets!

Hope you are all doing well on your plots and the harvesting is going well.