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Posted: Sunday 27 February, 2011

by Rosemary at 2:11pm in Smallholding Comments closed

I had four things on today's list and I've done three. We've just had lunch - boiled eggs and soldiers. Yummy! We don't eat a lot of eggs - and not as many as Dan would like - because customer demand is outstripping supply so we have this as a weekend treat. Daft, isn't it? Oh, they were delicious.

Anyway, this morning, in addition to my normal routine, I have cleaned out the caravan and dealt with all the stuff. I finished "grooming" the sheepskin cushion covers and put them on the dining room windowsill and Felix has taken up residence, basking in the sun. I now need to sort out what needs to go into the caravan before our first guests arrive.

After that, I took out the insulation from the outside loo and gave it a good clean. When we moved here, it was our only outside water supply until we got water into the west range, so we had to try and keep it running. John lagged it with oft insulation and it worked pretty well except in the very coldest spells. With the west range now plumbed, we've decided that we'll close the outside loo down over winter and drain it. So the insulation was removed - horrid stuff. I should have worn gloves. Anyway, done now, nice and clean, fresh towels in and handgel in place.

My third job was to remove any debris from the old henrun, rake it, spread calcified seaweed and reseed. The seed is from The Grass Seed Store and is specifically for poultry runs. This is what the suppier says "It is based on short growing, hardwearing grass species along with legumes and deep rooting herbs to increase the potential intake of protein, minerals and nutrients from the forage. Not only will this permanent pasture introduce a wider range of leaf matter into the diet, the more diverse habitat will attract a higher number of invertebrates for the free range bird to consume. The sward will generally provide good ground cover and a very stable, robust pasture, even in wet weather. " It contains perennial ryegrass, red and white clovers, lucerne,fescues, bentgrass plus a range of forage herbs (Chicory, Burnet, Sheeps Parsley, Sheeps Burnet, Yarrow). Hopefully, the weather will stay mild and let it get away.

My last job is to unwrap the new harrow and have a look at it, so just off to do that now.

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