The LEP website seems to have taken away the blog button from its homepage and to find blogs now you have to search for this page.
It used to be that comments on these blogs are few and far between, but surely now that it is almost impossible to find this page, is there any point in continuing ?

So here they are.
The chooks have been relegated to just having the free run of the rear part of my garden in the past fortnight because they have all but destroyed the lawn. (well them and the snow/frost). But when I am out there they get to run all over the garden and allotment. In fact they have come close to being decapitated a couple of times, as I am turning over the soil at the moment and they get right in there to get the worms as soon as possible.



    


                                                     


         

                    Wanda                                          Peggy                                        
 

They have just begun to lay three eggs a day again after going very quite over the winter.
Yesterday they had a fight over a dead bird they found in the garden. Something not qiute right about that.

14 March 2010

Is it me  or is this cold weather just going on and on ?
Here we are at Mothering Sunday and as you are no doubt aware, there's not a daffodill in sight. I am amazed at how brown and dead the gardens still look.
I am going to attempt to plant some seeds this afternoon, but to be honest I would not be surprised if they do not survive the nights frost. But what the hell, it's the second week of March !
So in go the Nasturtiums, Sweet Peas, Sunflower seeds, Cosmos Sensation seeds, Phlox, Aster and Marigolds for the flowers.
The veggie seeds will go in next week and I still can't decide about potatoes this year.
o
As promised (some time ago), the chickens pix will appear later today

Dedicated to my mum who passed away suddenly four weeks ago and to all who wish they could tell there mums that they love them.   

Just surfing the net, as you do when waiting to photograph another stunning feature, (about a sex addict apparently) and I came across this article on the eglu site.


National Chicken and Egg Day - Febuary 2nd
A day for thought and thanks for both the humble egg and the brilliant chicken. It is traditional to spend a few extra moments with your chickens a chance to reflect on the good times you've shared together. Perhaps you could organise a celebratory egg and spoon race, the official distance is one backgarden and the customary prize is a lemon meringue pie (see the recipe section for the recipe).


So when I get home at 5pm, I am going to reflect on the good times I have shared with my chooks. Should be back in the house by 5.02pm

Sorry I haven't written anything for some time now but the back end of last year saw the sad loss of a very special father in law and these things blind side you when they are so unexpected.

But one piece of news that I have missed writing about is the addition of three new ladies on the allotment.
Three chickens that is.
I will post pix and some more info about them very shortly, suffice to say they have settled in well and produce a couple of eggs a day, but the surprise to me is what characters they are, each one with there own agenda.
Just wanted to post this to let you know I am still posting blogs and will be back shortly  

Just in time for Wimbledon, the strawberries have appeared in abundance. So many that my neighbours and family members are also being stocked up with them. They are into their second year now and I have quite a lot of success keeping birds and bugs away with netting and a straw base.


                


Even so some have gone the way of the mini slugs but still, hope you are enjoying as much success with yours and hope Andy has as much success on the court, and the Tour De France starts next week-end. Isn't summer great. 

Firstly to anyone who takes the time to read my ramblings let me apologise for the delay in writing anything fresh on here. It was only when I saw the chairman of the Bolton allotment winning £25 million that I thought about it. Something in the psychie (can't find the spell check on this thing) said, get off your backside and do something, so here is another ramble.
To be honest I have been extremely busy down on the patch, but any spare time has been taken up celebrating my silver wedding with a trip to vienna and what a worthwhile trip that was - a beautiful and enchanting city, and the wife isn't bad either. Only joking love.
Anyway, quickly going back to the allotment, the new potatoes have been tasting lovely for about a week now. I am taking them up a row at a time rather than all at once as I have in the past. Not sure they will lose the taste leaving them in a bit longer but logic tells me that they will be fresher that way. As I always say, into my third season and still learning and experimenting, but that is part of the fun.
More planting has taken place, Peas are growing nicely, Runner beans are going great guns with all this sunshine (though today the weather is blessing us with that lifeblood, that is rain), Strawberries are enormous (I'll get a picture of one of them for next blog, I'm not going out in THAT rain), and the courgettes are just beginning to produce fruit, two more weeks and we won't know what to do with them all. If you are growing any don't be tempted to twist them off as it damages the plant, cut them with a sharp knife at about five inches for best flavour. 
This is the first year that I have tried beetroot and that is looking promising as is the Squash which, again is a new one to me. Apparently they need to be eaten as soon as picked or stored in a fridge where they last for up to one week, (a tip from Carol Klein - still learning)
Just one last thing, five years ago we bought a small grapevine, a sauvignon Blanc, and called it Pontoof after an imaginary character in the film, Chocolate, as we always thought any grapes would be imaginary, but in its fifth year it has produced an abundance of very small grapes. It grows on the side of a west facing wall that is our garage and we are very proud of little Pontoof. Though I doubt they will grow to anything worth eating, but who knows what will happen, thats nature!
Back Soon. 

                                                                                                                                                            Look !!

 Tomato                                 Pear Blossom                     Broad Beans                      Potato


I love this time of year when all the seeds that you have planted starts to sprout. Leaves start to appear everywhere, out of the soil and out of the fruit trees. It is the time when all your expectations are high and everything looks healthy and new. Before the problems of pests and over/under watering start to take hold.
It is time to plan where all this new growth is going get planted out to in a few weeks time, when frosts are less likely.
This year I have planted most everything that I am going to grow, inside the greenhouse to give them a head start. To be honest I know with some plants I will be lining myself up for problems of acclimatising them or disturbing roots when planting out, but I like to try out some different ways of growing. Trial and error.
Away from the allotment,the lawn also got taken care of at the week-end, with some weed and feed spread over it it's already looking better.
Some of the surrounding trees got a bit of a chop also. Last year I left them alone, as I thought they would provide good shelter in the height of the summer heat, but we never really got much sun at all, so I have decided to allow more sun into the allotment this year. Watch it end up a scorcher.
Till next time.