Hello, I'm back

Hello everyone.  The blog is back!

Last year was a disaster on a number of counts and I got very disillusioned with the whole smallholding/gardening/better life/blogging scenario.  Farmers markets were tried and not a success, farmgate sales weren't any better, so I basically gave up.  So much so that we have had no winter veg this this year at all, apart from potatoes and onions and a few carrots.  Hubby has not been pleased to have been buying veg all winter.

Anyway that was last year.  I'm pleased to say things are back to normal again now, probably better actually.  I have renewed vigour and enthusiasm and the garden is looking all the better for it.  This is because I am having to follow a gluten free diet; that change has been overwhelming for me in terms of the amount of energy I have, the enthusiasm and willingness to get stuck in more than I think I've ever had.  Its fab!

So onwards and upwards.  I've got lots of ideas of things I want to change/improve/do on the smallholding so I hope you'll stick with me as I go through them.  Please feel free to comment on anything you feel you need to - I always look forward to reading your comments.

A few photos to see how things have changed/improved etc -

The polytunnel at the moment - Spring cabbages and overwintered salads on the left hand side.  More salads, radishes etc on the right.  Rest of right hand side bed is first early potatoes, put in a fortnight ago

Overwintered salads, and seed trays full of flowers, leeks etc

Peas under the cloches, the rest dug over and muck applied.  Only a small (weed-infested) piece left to dig over (top left)

Looking back towards the house.  Fabric fleece over some more spring cabbages, that aren't doing very well and so will get pulled up.  Canes are in for my Carnations

Garlic growing very well, despite only going in a fortnight ago

The 'new' veg patch.  Daffodils in the foreground

The patch being cultivated.  All poultry houses are now in this bit - two chicken houses (one currently empty and waiting for the new arrivals, hopefully at the end of the month) and one duck hut

Hubby's cultivating equipment! 

2014 Garden started

Today has been the day when I feel that we have made a start in the veg garden, or garden full-stop really, for 2014.

Michael has dug over and added manure to the two beds in the polytunnel, ready for one side to be filled with new potatoes.

I have weeded the microgreens, also in the polytunnel, which are coming on a treat -

Apart from a few rows in the middle, which were Beetroot, Chives and Basil, plus one row of Rocket which hasn't grown, all the rest are doing just fine.  I'm well pleased.  Some of these I may leave to grow on, especially the salad leaves as Michael is beginning to moan about not having any salad's recently - partly due to the fact that I won't let him buy tasteless tomatoes and cucumbers from the supermarket!

I also did a few tidying up jobs - collecting up some smashed glass from under the fruit trees in the veg patch, where a cold frame had been; moved some left over Laurel plants - left over from a job of Michael's, which will come in handy for my Laurel hedge that I've been wanting for years, am also going to do some Topiary with it too, if the plan comes off; plus I've made a start on the hoeing, which already makes the place look better.  I even cleaned out the three chicken sheds.  So I feel good tonight that things are moving in the right direction, I can go to bed happy and tired tonight - the weather helped too, it's been gorgeous and sunny all day.  Already looking forward to see what I can accomplish tomorrow.

Stats today -
Eggs produced = 7
Sales - 1 dozen eggs
Expenses - Nil

Still harvesting potatoes

And No I don't mean the ones from the bags in the shed!

I went into the polytunnel over the weekend to have a check on how my micro-greens were doing and found potatoes growing.  We always grow our first earlies in the polytunnel, just so we can beat everyone else to it and start harvesting delicious new potatoes early.  That time of year when you're desperate for summer food, and new potatoes covered in lashings of herb butter - delish!

The potatoes I found were just ones that had been left over from the 2013 harvest but not wanting to let them go to waste I stuck in my fork and this is what I came out with.

The evidence!

The haul!

And extremely delicious they were too.

Stats today - 

Eggs produced = 7

Sales - 1 dozen eggs - £2.00

Expenses - Nil

Fancy a holiday?

Fancy getting away from it all for a bit?  Need to attend to some family business? How on earth do you go about leaving the place, with all that needs looking after?

Well it can be done with a little prior planning and preparation.  Depending on how much needs attending to whilst you are away, will depend on who you can ask and how often they need to visit.

Friends and neighbours can be called upon to put chickens to bed and let out in the mornings, but their level of knowledge and confidence will depend on how much more they feel they can cope with; someone more professional with more experience may be needed, who will come and house-sit full-time.  The appointed person will come and ‘live-in’ for the duration of your holiday, giving you peace of mind whilst you are away with regards to security.  This works excellently if you have household pets, e.g. dogs and cats, as it means their routine is not disturbed.  All your required jobs will be fulfilled by the sitter, i.e. all animal feeding and watering, dog walking, polytunnels/greenhouse watered.

Finding a house sitter, can be a little problematic in itself.  Who is capable, knowledgeable and trustworthy?  Word of mouth is an excellent way, as you get an instant reference as a bonus.  Local smallholding societies who produce monthly magazines may advertise someone local, plus the internet is a good place to hunt too.   The person you choose ideally should be CRB checked, have full third party liability insurance and be able to provide references for you to follow up.

Before committing yourself, you should arrange for them to come for a pre-holiday visit, to view the property and you all get to meet in person.  This gives you an ideal opportunity to see if the person is suitable, if you like them, (they are staying in your house after all), and if they are willing to take the job.  Post visit you can, discuss payment, duties, start and finish dates.  Be prepared to pay a reasonable amount, labour is not cheap and they will be responsible for your property twenty four hours a day.

Whoever you choose, you need to make sure the appointed person understands exactly what needs doing.  Draw up a comprehensive list of duties, e.g.

·        

CChickens

AM – Feed and top up water.  Collect eggs

PM – Let out.  Collect eggs

EVE – Close up run and pop hatch.  Remove feed hopper to shed

·         Leave contact details for yourself and where you are staying, including any mobile numbers.

·         Leave details of where all feed and equipment is kept and where the keys are if any buildings are locked.

·         Notify Vets and the knacker man that you are away and who is staying in your place.  Also leave their contact details in the house for emergencies.

·         Let neighbours/close friends know who is staying, in case they pop in ‘on the off chance’.

·         Leave details of household necessities – bin collection days, stop taps, electricity meters.

·         Anything else you can think of – Central heating squeaks when first comes on, tap drips in kitchen, any vehicles being left at home, for security purposes.

Your expectations of the house sitter should be reasonable too.  Don’t expect them to take your dogs for a five mile walk if you don’t.  Make sure your feed and forage supply is adequate for the duration of their stay.  Also ensure your fencing is secure – enough said!  If it’s winter time, ensure a plentiful supply of heating fuel – oil, coal, logs, whatever it is you use.  The easier and more comfortable you make it for them, the more likely they are to want to come back.

The whole process may seem daunting at the outset, for both parties, but if the house-sitter is experienced in these matters, then all will be well, leaving you to relax and enjoy your time away in confidence.                       

Good old eBay!

Thanks to eBay and Rob from Tiptree in Essex, and to his wife for the coffee, drinks and chocolate biscuits (says Michael), I am now the proud owner of a fabulous new greenhouse and five cold frames.

Michael and Rob spent the afternoon dismantling the approx 6m x 2.4m aluminium greenhouse.  I've now got to decide what to grow for sale next year.

The deconstruction process -

Glass out from the sides

Roof off

Loaded and ready to come home

Michael would like to extend a huge thank you to Rob for helping him take it down, he was extremely helpful.

Can't wait for next year now, it's going to be a huge task to get it up, the base laid, staging in and the cold frames erected too, but it'll be well worth it.

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 10

Sales -
1/2 dozen eggs £0.90
1 x 500g Carrots £0.75
1 x Cucumber £0.60

Expenses -
Greenhouse and cold frames £383.00 (that's an awful lot of eggs and veg to sell!)

BASIL! No, it's not just become Faulty Towers

Now I love Basil - the herb; everything about it, the smell, taste, what you can use it in.  Maybe it's my love of Italian food - pizza's, pasta, tomatoes; see my earlier blog post with my tomato sauce recipe, just rip up a handful of leaves and throw them in.  So I decided to find out a bit more about it.

Ocimum basilicum to give it its latin name comes in several colours, from yellowish green, through green to purple, all of which produce white flowers in summer.

Gorgeous flowers on the purple variety

I pinched an idea from Monty Don of Gardeners World fame, who says he always plants his next to his tomatoes in the greenhouse, and I have done the same this year.  Plus I have just read, and I am quoting here from 'Growing Herbs', by Murdoch books; 'Basil is a popular companion plant with organic gardeners, who believe that planting it next to tomatoes and capsicum will improve their growth.'  So I guess Monty does know a thing or two after all!

I've just measured this one, the biggest one in the polytunnel and it stands 77cm tall!

The leaves are covered in small oil cells which gives the herb its strong flavour and aromatic smell and the flowers should be pinched out to preserve the smell.  It is an annual plant, that I find is best sown fresh every spring in a greenhouse.  It can be taken outside in warm summer, but I tend plant mine in the polytunnel or keep it in a pot on the kitchen windowsill.

Many myths and legends surround this wonderful herb; from being loved or truly hated; it has a link to scorpions of all things and was thought to be able to turn itself into one (!); and to tales that only beautiful women could cultivate it (obviously that's rubbish because Monty grows it so well!); it is classed as a Holy plant in its native country - India, being grown outside temples, laid on the chests of dead Hindu people, and used as a disinfectant and insect repellant.

It also has medicinal properties; being a useful soothant of travel sickness, or general stomach complaints, (make a tea from the leaves).

The most well known use is of course Pesto, made from your own leaves -
100g Fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
75g Parmesan cheese
6 tbsps Good olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend the basil, garlic and pine nuts to a pulp, either in a pestle and mortar or a liquidiser.
Alternately add a tablespoon of oil and then a tablespoon of cheese until it is blended together.
Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
Serve through hot pasta, with salad from your garden, including lots of tomatoes.  Yum!

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 11

Sales -
1 dozen tomatoes £1.80
1 x Mint herb plant £0.50

Expenses -
Nil

Peppers V Peppers

The battle of the Peppers!

Now, I've always been told that you cannot grow Peppers and Chilli peppers in the same greenhouse / polytunnel at the same time, because they are too closely related and will not produce fruit if you do.

That sounded like a challenge to me, and always up for a challenge, I decided to see, more out of curiosity than anything, what would happen if you did plant the two plants side by side.

Sweet Peppers

Chilli Peppers

These two plants are less than half a metre away from each other and seem to be thriving, (that's the same yellow leaf of a cucumber plant in the photo's).

Having read several books on the subject of growing peppers and chillies, I find that nowhere in these books does it say that you cannot grow them together, in fact they are both in the same family as tomatoes, potatoes and aubergines and should be treated as such for rotation purposes.  Both are reasonably easy to grow, suffer from little problems - the usual slugs, aphids and red spider mite; the main problem being blossom end rot, ie. lack of sufficient water, but if you're seeing that on peppers then you'll be seeing it on your tomatoes too and bells should start ringing in your head to give them all more water.

So I shall continue to plant all my peppers and chillies together and not listen to other people's ideas until I have thoroughly checked them out.  To think I had been panicking about not getting any peppers or chillies - that'll learn me, as they say here in Norfolk!

Stats today - 

Eggs produced = 12

Sales -

1 dozen eggs £1.80

1 x 500g Carrots £0.75

1 x Oregano plant £0.50

Expenses -

Nil

Tidy news and sad news

First the tidy news.  Finally I have got the poly-tunnel under control.  All the tomatoes have been tied in where necessary, leaders and side shoots have been nipped out, excess bottom leaves taken off, nearly taking the end of my finger off at the same time - the amount of blood, blimey!, plus extra stakes have been introduced where needed.  The whole tunnel has been hoed, watered and weeded, and I've found space.  Yes, space for more crops - excellent.  I think I will plant a couple of rows of carrots, just to see us a bit further into the winter.  Michael planted four rows in the spring and we are still eating them now, delicious.  The ones outside got over-run with weeds and hoed out, so will leave us a bit short through the winter, and they are one of my staples in the kitchen, another job to add to the jobs list!

But I think you'll agree it all looks very smart, I even brushed and then hosed down the path!  Now that's dedication for you!

I think I can still smell tomatoes on me though, even after my bath.

And now to the sad news.  We lost another chick overnight, so are down to one.  It's never easy losing livestock if you're an animal person, whether they be ten years old or ten days, I still get attached, can't help it.  Watching them grow, take their first steps, their first meal or even watching them being born, or just living with them day to day.  I know everything has to eat, it's the first rule of survival, it's nature, it's also not damn fair.  We are presuming it's the rats that have taken them, so are upping our rat management to maximum, to try and keep the last one alive - fingers crossed.

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 11

Sales -
1 1/2 dozen eggs £2.70
1 x Cucumber £0.60

Expenses -
Nil