The growing season...

I know that I wrote ages ago about the fact that we'd finally gotten ourselves somewhere to grow 'stuff' and I haven't really mentioned it since.

...This was the state it was in when we began to make plans.....

.... that's an old pig hut right at the back - that was in amongst the dead apple trees and brambles...

O.K. I've posted a few photographs on flickr but that's because it's just such a good way of sharing phtographs with people that you can't drag entice take over to our corner of a field.

We've had our successes and our failures and we've still loads to learn, perfect and get right. But, then this was always intended as a way of getting some perfect 'downtime', when your mind isn't buzzing with 'work' and all the other traumas of life.

We struggled to get some beds sorted out in time to grow anything this year and we made a decision not to define all the beds with boards or edging or to do anything about creating proper pathways until we discovered whether we'd put the beds in the best places. Whether the beds were too long, too narrow, too wide, in the best places to make the most use of the light .....

...does it look like a geological dig to you...? So, that's all to do beginning this autumn and next spirng.

We don't have any of the really nasty weeds such as mares tail but do have a great deal of this;

.... and nettles and something called fat hen. Now, I'm told that you can eat both of these..... ummmmm! Well, the nettles I'm prepared to give some space to around the edges 'cos they're good for all kind of wildlife and that's fine with me. The fat hen is probably good for wildlife, certainly the ladybird larvae seem to love it. But, in salads.... me? 'Fraid not - I can't get away from the fact that they're weeds not food.... I used to feed them to hens as a child, but maybe you've tried them?

I've planted these around the perimeter;

...and these amongst my broad beans...

... I'm experimenting with a bit of companion planting.

Despite my resistance to neetle and fat hen eating, I have cooked and tried turnip tops, which I confess was completely new to me. They're delicious! Someone's been keeping secrets! Admittedly, you start off with a cauldron of greens, a bit like spinach and once you've cooked/wilted it, you end up with something that wouldn't fill an egg cup but my goodness! with a little bit of seasoning and a dribble of olive oil they were gorgeous! Even my daughter ate them and that is saying something.

We've had radishes, turnips, potatoes (We're pretty much self-sufficient in potatoes at the moment. We thought they'd help work the soil as this is its first year growing anything other than nettles and brambles in at least 50 years.). We've beetroot, which just melt in your mouth. Broad beans....

....peas

We've courgettes, pumpkins and butternut squashes to look forward to as well as sweetcorn, garlic, onions, and chard. There's jerusalem artichokes, salsify, kohlrabi, broccolli, runner beans, dwarf beans ..... all kinds. (We were sad enough to cut our first runner bean into quarters the other night - well we all had to try it.) When it comes to actually eating some of them I'm going to have to consult a cookery book. Sad but true. It's a fascinating journey.

Our biggest failure or mistake was to feel that our cabbages grown so beautifully from seed would be o.k. There don't seem to be any rabbits, probably due to the fact that a lady runs a fox sanctuary nearby. But, they obviously don't hunt pigeons (Probably too full of rabbit!) ..... they wreaked death, destruction and complete havoc upon our beautiful cabbages. We tried to rescue them but it was no good and we've had to rootle them out again.

We've probably gone a little bit mad with some things and not sewn enough of others. We've a lot more to learn about 'succession', and potential yields per plant, but my neighbours are happy helping out with our 'gluts' . If all the leeks and celeriac we have growing succeed, we'll be living on various vegetable soups and stews all winter but hey, next year we'll understand so much more. It's all lovely and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

So, this is the good thing that the happened last week. The arrival of our hens. We've three of them. Dahlia, Henoria and Masie.

...Masie....

...the delightful and haughty Henoria...

I'm afraid that Dahlia will never stand still enough for a photograph.. but I'll get her soon. They're still behind bars at the moment, but the plan is that once they've settled and I think they are pretty settled, then they can venture into the garden. (I'm just a bit terrified of this - their wings are clipped but even so....)

We've had them just five days and Henoria has just laid her first egg ...

... those are big hands by the way....

My son's face when he found it was an absolute 'beaming' picture full of pride... Aw! Rosie sits out on the grass talking to them and they both sit out on the grass feeding them - grapes ! Yes, I did say grapes.

Getting them in the first evening was entertaining but now they trot off to bed at dusk and it's a very easy task. More than can be said of our children. Obviously we're better 'chicken parents' than parents. Oh well!

I hope you've survived all those pictures....

Comments

[maria]

Wow you've been so busy. It sounds like you've got an incredible range of veggies. We have a patch in our garden and it's great to just go outside and pick something to eat. I love the chickens too.

[gill]

what fun you must be having!!
we have the same problem with pigeons - and slightly more hens (over 100 at the last count) so beware they're really addictive - before you know where you are you'll have a broody hen so you'll have to find some fertile eggs to go under her and so it goes on!
ENJOY!!!!!

[woollywotnots]

Oh fab! I loved all the photos. How exciting to see it all progressing. :-)

[Wild Rose]

You have made so much progress and just look at that beautiful produce! Such fun to have hens and an egg after only five days.

Marie x

[kim]

Wow you must be so proud of yourself, what an impressive start you've made. I am absolutely amazed at the progress you have made, it's fantastic!!! Well done you, I can't believe the difference. Hope you're enjoying a lovely evening eating some of that wonderful veg
Kimx

[jennie]

I love your hens..I have chickens too we got them in may and have 150 eggs!!! first time for us too word of advice..They WILL ruin your lovely grass but they are great for turning over your veggie patch when you need it done and eat all the bugs!!
Good luck with it all..love your Blog and your shop!!