Smallholding
Apples / Tatties / Leeks
Monday 12 September, 2022
Monday 5th September
Dan lifted the first ¼ of the potatoes. They look really good – had two baked for dinner and they were delicious.
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Caledonian Rose.
I did nothing productive apart from my routine chores. Truly depressed at the prospect of Liz Truss as Prime Minister. The weather reflected that, being dismal with thunder and heavy rain.
Cats / Toad / Greengages
Monday 5 September, 2022
Monday 29th August
Dan’s been experimenting with growing comfrey crown cuttings in boxes.
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Comfrey growing
We’ve been walking Gwenna round Home; I hope Grey had fun dispersing the brash around. It smells very piney.
Grey's play area.
Gwenna / Geraniums / Lintel
Monday 29 August, 2022
Monday 22nd August
Busy morning; down to Downfield to pick up some Shetland beef from Paul Sanderson. Three of my old customers had bought beef too, so I picked that up as well.
Light rain this morning, with some heavier showers, dropping to drizzle – not forecast but welcome, nevertheless.
Visit this afternoon from Alan and Dianne Yarker, who we met through the Shetland Cattle Breeders Association. Great to catch up with them; lovely folk. Managed to avoid talking about the state of the current breed society.
Fox / Rain / Bus pass
Monday 22 August, 2022
Monday 15th August
Thunder, lightning and rain overnight and into morning. Biblical rain about 7am. I was in the polytunnel, watering, and it was thrashing down. More forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Hens left the hen house, and most turned around and went back in. Others sheltering under the nest boxes.
It's raining.
Farrier due to come at 10.30am. I’m slopping about in trousers but bedtime T shirt and no underwear when he arrives early. Ponies no even in. Arrgh. What a sight! Still done now and I am properly shored up. Dogs exhausted this morning – maybe the thunder kept them awake. Today is the day I’m going to sort out my bus pass. Maybe.
Gwenna / Sunflowers / Dahlias
Monday 15 August, 2022
Monday 8th August
I love dahlias. These are from Sarah Raven; the Venetian Collection. Just hope I can manage to keep them for next year. I have a poor record so far.
Dahlias.
Tuesday 9th August
It’s like autumn here – I guess the lack of water is making the trees drop leaves early.
Gwenna / Health tests / Bannockyarn
Monday 8 August, 2022
Monday 1st August Lammas
Dan collected Gwenna this afternoon. She’s bright in herself, and her back legs move but she can’t take any weight on them. Between feeding, medication and physio (5 times daily), Dan’s made a spreadsheet to keep us right. The drugs should be finished in two weeks, fingers crossed but the physio will be six weeks at least. I was a bit upset at the vet report – her prognosis is given as fair to good but we’ll give her the best chance we can.
Gwenna / Potatoes / Poppy
Monday 1 August, 2022
Monday 25th July
Nicely wet today.
I had to take Gwenna to the vet this morning. Not sure what’s wrong but she was in a lot of pain. The vet couldn’t even examine her, because she was rigid. She’s had two painkiller injections, has had a pee (allowed out on the lead only) and two scrambled eggs. She’s now asleep. She goes back to the vet tomorrow morning.
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Poorly Gwenna.
Bovine Love Island / Bricks / Roses
Monday 25 July, 2022
Monday 18th July
Hot. But not as hot as forecast. The media does love to create a crisis. Folk go on holiday to enjoy temperatures like this.
Alistair, our vet, was out just after lunchtime to jag the four female cattle with a hormone to bring them into season – sadly, this means they will slip any calf they are carrying, but we don’t have the facilities to calve indoors, so we just have to bite that particular bullet. I asked him to do an internal on Baby and on Blizzard. I’ve never seen Baby what I would call “properly” in season. She wasn’t in calf, not surprisingly, but ovaries, tubes etc were all present and correct, so hopefully she’ll come into season and get in calf now. Blizzard was about six weeks in calf, which is a bit sad but also good news – if she can do it once, she should be able to do it again. I wanted Alistair to check all was well after quite a difficult calving last year – and it was.
Flowers / Kirrie Show / Birthday
Monday 18 July, 2022
Monday 11th July
Pulled all the beetroot – a good crop from a metre or so of bed. The variety was Moneta on a seed tape. Got them all cooked and pickled and I’ve sown another three half rows – that was all the tape I had left. Would definitely do the tape again. Having said that NONE of the parsnips on the tape germinated.
Beetroot Moneta from seed tape .
Grey / Cabbage / Blueberries
Monday 11 July, 2022
Monday 4th July
Dry, some sun and a rather brisk breeze. I don’t know what happened to last week, but my To Do list is scarily long. Keeping too many plates spinning.
After tea, we gave the lambs their second Covexin vaccination, did all the sheep with Clik and tagged the lambs going away on Thursday. I put Spotinor on all the cattle this morning. The flies are awful. Smokey needs two good coverings with repellent every day.
Tuesday 5th July
You take your eyes of the garden and the weeds are rampant. The peas are especially bad because they cling to the weeds making harvesting difficult. Anyway, made a start.
