the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

Update w/e 31st May

Well, summer seems to be here at last – even if only for a few days. Actually, I hate to say it, but we could really do with some rain.

In the vegetable garden, we’ve been mostly weeding. The broad beans are doing well and the peas are coming away. The runner beans that were started in the greenhouse are already shimmying up the canes but the direct sown ones have yet to make an appearance. Our gooseberries and redcurrant have fallen victim to sawfly and had a spray of derris. The redcurrant has almost no leaves left – and that happened almost overnight. Still, it has set plenty fruit, as have the gooseberries.

I picked up our Hubbard meat chicks on Saturday from Jamesfield Organic Centre near Abernethy. It’s the first time I’ve been there and I was sorry I hadn’t taken any cash. The centre sells all manner of organic produce in a purpose built shop. Much of what it sells is grown on the land around it and the folk I was buying the chicks from also produce ducks, guinea fowl, turkeys and geese fro meat plus organic eggs. I’m going to buy some point of lay pullets there next time I need some.

We’re keeping 10 Hubbards this time. They will be ready for slaughter at about 10 - 12 weeks. I’m going to “dilute” the pellets with mixed corn this time to try to slow the growth down a bit. It’s hard to believe when that these tiny bundles of fluff will be fully grown in a few weeks. They will have a heat lamp until they are feathered at three weeks or so, but I switched it off for a while this afternoon as they were all sunbathing.

The pigs moved into their second pen today to let the first one recover a bit. The grass in the new pen is so long, sometimes all we can see is moving stems to show where the pigs are. However, they will soon eat it down.

The sheep are on the third quarter of the field. The first quarter is starting to recover – but a bit of rain would certainly help. The worm test that we did last week came back as “medium” so I’ll worm them with Verm X this week then retest to check that it is working. They are feeling the heat and the new shed has been a Godsend, allowing them to lie in shade at the middle of the day. They will get such a shock when their fleeces come of at the end of the month.

Update w/e 24th May

Deep joy! I’ve been collecting poo samples from the sheep so that we can have worm egg counts done. I'm just a glorified toilet attendant and there's some debate about the "glorified" bit.

We don’t have a lot of land and four ewes will be about our maximum. It also means we have to manage what grazing we have. It was stressing me a bit but I now have a grazing plan that, if it works in practice, should allow each parcel of land to rest and recover for 6 months of the year.

I had to buy sheep tags for the first time this week. Not looking forward to the application - I remember what it was like getting my ears pierced.

Li’l’ Bud and Dickie got their first injection of Heptavac P Plus this week; a second will be administered in six weeks. It’s then an annual booster, if they are still around. Next sheep tasks are applying the tags; registering the two lambs we are retaining and organizing shearing.

We’ve also been busy in the vegetable garden. All the beans that we started in the greenhouse – broad beans, runner beans and dwarf French beans – plus the peas, have been planted out. The cabbages and sweetcorn aren’t quite ready. The Czar runner beans came to naught, despite two sowings, so I've direct sown more "White Lady". If they can avoid the weevils, they should be OK.

Last lamb

I thought I had put this up - wrote it ages ago, well, mid May given the content!

Jura lambed last night - a ewe lamb that has been named Lyra. Both mother and daughter seem to be doing fine. I'll tail her in the morning, then she can get out in the afternoon if it's fine. I hope Li'l' Bud and Dickie don't bully her, as she's very small in comparison to those two thugs.

It looks like Li'l' Bud has a future as a breeding ram; Lyra will be retained in our flock; Dickie, however, has a less long-term future i.e. the freezer. I was concerned about him being the only one going to the abattoir so I've arranged with my chum, who also has Ryelands, that when we wean them, Dickie will go and run with her ram lambs until they all go for slaughter. It's not a happy thought, as I'm quite attached to them, but it's most humane solution I can come up with in the circumstances.

I've ordered ear tags, so I'll get that done shortly and then I'll register them, all things being equal. The first Rosedean lambs!

Update w/e 17th May

Well, the changeable weather has persisted this week but in the garden, things are growing – especially the weeds. Dan’s dad has put new nets over the brassica bed so we’ll be able to get our cabbages out this week. I've gone mad with about 4 varieties plus calabrese and three varieties of purple sprouting broccoli. The broad beans look well but I’ve sown some poached egg plant to help deter black fly. In the greenhouse, the sweetcorn is almost ready to go out as are the runner beans “White Lady”. The runner beans Czar have failed completely so I’ve resown them, as a second batch.

The main feature this week, though, has been our visit to the Smallholder and Garden Festival at the Royal Welsh Showground at Builth Wells. With a group of friends from Central Scotland Smallholders’ Association www.smallholders.info, we traveled down to Wales on Friday for the two day show. I’m a regular at some of the local agricultural shows and, of course, the Royal Highland Show, but this was better, much better. The Highland is geared towards the big farmer; this weekend’s event is for folk like us with a few livestock and small acreage. For the first time, having three sheep was normal!

As well as showing classes for sheep, pigs, poultry, rabbits and hamsters (?), there were trade stands selling not £500,000 combine harvesters, but incubators and poultry “stuff”, books, craft materials (I bought a peg loom, so watch this space!), local food and crafts.

There was an auction of vintage farm equipment - another man’s junk etc etc – where I hankered after horse-drawn potato harrows that really only needed a wee coat of paint to make them like new. There was loads of stuff completely unrecognisable to us including two “Wufflers”, which we worked out were for “wuffling” the hay to help it dry. If we’re wrong, I’m sure someone will let us know! We were intrigued to see that the folk next to us on the campsite had bought a two furrow plough and had somehow managed to get it on the roof of their Nissan X Trail for the journey home!

The best thing about the show, though, was the people. Everyone on the stands was happy to chat with us and discuss their livestock or their food or craft and to offer help and advice. I wish we had taken the two days as there is too much to see in one but we’re already planning a return visit next year – so maybe see you there!

Update w/e 10th May

It’s been a quiet week here, mostly due to the inclement weather. On the positive side, the grass is now growing better and the area that we reseeded after the fencing and the new shed were put in is faintly green if you look at it from the correct angle.

Herbert, our second lamb, has been renamed Dickie after a well-known TV personality. Can you guess who? With the warmer weather, we’ll be treating the sheep this week to prevent fly strike. Jura had it last year but we noticed it very quickly and were able to treat it promptly. She seems none the worse for it but I’d rather avoid a repeat.

The pigs are now on 2lb of food each per day. I’ve taken out the trough and just feed them on the ground. They seem to prefer it that way. They don’t seem to be making much impact on the grass yet, but they are still only young. I inadvertently made them a wallow by forgetting to turn of the hose while filling their water trough. Much fun was had running in and out or the water and blowing snout bubbles.

We planted a willow hedge earlier in the year, on the riverbank. Partly this is for shade, for the sheep to browse, for wood and to stabilize the bank. Most seems to have taken really well, despite the rabbits’ best efforts. Dan also planted an apple tree out there. I thought it was past its best and was prepared to dispose of it, but Dan stuck it in with the willow and it’s covered in blossom. Naturally, he never says “I told you so”.

We’re off to the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Smallholder and Garden Festival this weekend with some friends from Central Scotland Smallholders Association www.smallholders.info ; full report next week.

What happened to Spring?

We ate the last of our Christmas puddings yesterday. Kind of appropriate since it's cold, wet and miserable enough to be December.

Bees

I've just enrolled with our local beekeepers association. I've missed this years training course but I'm going to go on the visits and pick up the theory from January, with a view to getting bees this time next year.

Because of our limited land area, bees seem like a good way of producing more food and increasing the fertility of the land - and they don't eat any grass!

First visit is on 24th May, so I'm looking forward to that.

Hubbards no more

We dispatched the three remaining Hubbards yesterday. Once it was done, I started looking forward to a roast chicken dinner, but I get keyed up before we kill them - just because I want to be sure it's a swift and stress free as possible. Anyway, it was fine.

I made a right mess of plucking one; I managed to badly rip the skin. Dan's much better at plucking than me, but I need to keep practicing. He's very methodical; I think I try to be too quick, and it really is case of more haste, less speed. In teh end, we took the skin off and raosted it like that but it didn't work very well. The meat was really tasty but you really need the skin for roasting, and the outside was a bit dry. Anyway, curry tonight and I'm making stock for soup; Chicken and Tarragon, I think.

The other two have been hanging overnight; we'll clean them today and stick them in the deepfreeze. I've cleaned out the box and the feeders, so we're ready to start again!

Living free

I decided to let the young Black Rocks out on Saturday. They seem very small compared to the mature birds, but there was no bullying. I've been giving them corn together since the new ones arrived and Hector is very good at sorting out any nonsense. He immediately intervenes if there are any squabbles. He doesn't bother Hugo now either - first thing in the morning, Hector half heartedly chases Hugo, who runs away, then that's it sorted.

All the young Black Rocks return to the ark at night, rather than the layers' shed, which is fine. Last night, we moved the Legbars into the layers' shed and the big ark so that we can repair the little ark. Where the wood is in constant contact with the ground, it's got a bit hard up. We decided to put Hugo and two Legbars in with the young Black Rocks at the moment - Hector and Hugo in a shed together might be too much. When they all move in later in the year, hopefully Hector won't notice Hugo in the melee.