the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

Pondering the pond

Regular readers might recall that we had a pond put in a few months ago. It's a fixed liner, but quite a nice shape with different levels. After we had it put in, I began to have second thoughts, but it was too late. I spent a month or so just looking at it in a desperate kind of way, unable to make any sort of decision about it. Pathetic, really.

Anyway, about three weeks ago, we sorted the level (just about) filled it and bought some pond plants - marsh marigold, a water lily, a water iris, lobelia and some other bits (wish I'd kept the labels now). Having planted these, it looked a bit better.

Last weekend, we dug up the irises and the astilbe that used to be in the bog garden, split them and planted them round the far edge of the pond, along with a couple of hostas purchased for that purpose. We've used some existing stone to disguise the edge of the liner.

I gave it a quick weed and water this weekend and it's not looking too bad now - it's not Chelsea, but it's definitely improving. Unfortunately, Mr Toad seems to have decamped - maybe his idea of a des. res. isn't the same as mine.

I'm planning (today) to put some dogwood at the back of the astilbe and stuff to give some winter interest, but that might wait until we plant the rose hedge in the autumn.

Our little patio

We have a little patio area under the kitchen window; it faces south east. As well as a slabbed area, there's a bed about this by that. Last year, I had my "Three Sisters" bed there; this year, we've planted potatoes, with lettuce in between the ridges, eight tomato plants and a courgette. Plus a clump of catmint for Cassius.

In pots, we've also got potatoes, which look lovely; tomatoes, cucumber and various herbs, including a lovely rosemary (naturally!) and a bay tree. There is a couple of pots of lavender and a small lilac, which is just coming into flower - when it does, the scent is absolutely beautiful. Finally, there is a pot of "rescued" strawberries, which are just starting to flower.

I'm really pleased with it - the rosemary, the chives, the potatoes and the catmint are flowering, lilacs, blues and pink. It's a lovely place to sit, especially in the morning when it gets the best of the sun. And it should be productive, too, hopefully.

Chip's Harem

Have you ever seen a chick sleep standing up? We have.

To try and make sure Chip didn't grow up into some kind of oddball, caused by spending his formative months with a felt mouse, we bought 6 day old Black Rocks today. Chip's world has been turned upside down. Unlike the felt mouse, these girls move, cheep, peck, push, shove. And really tire a wee Chip out!

When Dan introduced the, Chip hid in the feeder, but he's a bit more sociable now.

When I came home from work tonight, Chip looked worn out - he was standing up but hie eyes were closed and he was nodding. Then he'd rally, have a peck at his new companions, get pecked, eat some chick crumbs, have a drink, then start nodding again. The six girls seem to rest in shifts, and Chip doesn't seem to be able to relax when any of them are on the move. I hope he's sorted himself out by morning!

The six Black Rocks look like wee, black pom-poms but they are very active and robust - fortunately, they are smaller than Chip (for now). He does kind of stick out like a sore thumb, being cream and brown - call it distinctive, if you like - but I'm sure when he's a full-grown cockerel, they will treat him with due respect!

Hard to see it right now, though.

Chip - and a lesson learned

The Cream Legbar eggs were due to hatch yesterday. I had a bad feeling about them, though. However, bang on time, one hatched so I set up the heat lamp in a box in the puppy cage and moved the first chick in there, hoping that a second egg, from which cheeping could be heard, would hatch too.

When we got up this morning and the first chick was dead. It had moved away from the lamp, gone out through the bars of the puppy cage and died. I am really gutted that I didn't foresee this. I just never thought it would move away from the warmth.

Anyway, the second egg has hatched. None of the others look like doing anything, so we have a single chick. We've called him / her Chip. I'm trying to find some companions for Chip, but meantime, I've put in a little felt mouse. The Marans, at four weeks, are about ten times the size of Chip so mixing them isn't an option.

I'll keep the diary up to date with progress - hopefully, it will be positive.

Pig shower

It was hot here last weekend so we rigged up a shower for the pigs. They like it a lot, as you can see!

A shower for the pigs from asmallholder on Vimeo.

The shower also gives them the chance to make a wallow - they will sometimes cover themselves in wet mud to keep cool.

Yippee, a tray of mud!

Our French Copper Black Marans, successfully hatched from eBay eggs, are now nearly a month old. They've been living outside for a week now, and have settled in well.

We just wish they would learn to go to bed - they come down their ladder in the morning, and can often be found upstairs having a siesta in the afternoon, but when night falls they all huddle together downstairs shivering! They're very tame and queue up to be lifted into the top of their ark, but it's a pain in the backside.

Last weekend R gave them a dust bath - a seed tray full of earth - and this is how they reacted:

Chicks dust bathing from asmallholder on Vimeo.

They love it! It's amazing what an instinct they have for dust-bathing and scratching and how quickly they display it when even only a few weeks old.

Livestock Day

It's only 1pm and I feel like I've done a full shift, but it's been very rewarding.

We moved the pigs from pen no.1 to pen no. 2, where there is some grass. I put a bale of straw in the hut, since the remaining straw was a bit flat, thenw e seeded pen no. 1 with grass, phacelia and buckwheat - really anything we had spare in the garage. The pigs are very excited with their new pen and their improved bed, and have been galloping in excited spurts round and round, before stopping to munch grass.

We moved the 6 Maran chicks into a run in the garage. They still have a heat lamp, but they need to start hardening off, so to speak. Anyway, we'll need the puppy cage for the Cream Legbars, which will hopefully hatch soon.

We applied louse powder to the hens - that needs to be a weekly job at this time of year. The RIR are worst affected. The Brown Leghorn never showed a single louse, but her feathers were quite different. We also moved the hen ark out of the orchard , further up the field. Round the ark gets dirty so this will give the ground time to clean up before we bring them back down in the winter, when it's good to have them close to the house.

Finally, we trimmed the sheeps' feet and gave them all a dose of Heptavac-P Plus. They are none to happy with us now, but I'm sure they will forgive us by tea-time!

So, off for a cup of tea and a biccie, then out into the garden!