Dahlias / Timber / Bottles - The Accidental Smallholder

Posted: Monday 2 September, 2019

by Rosemary at 11:27am in Smallholding Comments closed

Monday 26^th August

Very hot and windy. Did an hour pulling ragwort – there was more than I thought so I didn’t get it finished. One more session should do it. Ace obviously things the rubble bags are for playing with. I wish he’d leave them alone.

Usual office day, picking up follow-up for the Shetland Cattle at RHS 2020 project, the Festival and Smallholding Scotland. And some Dalmore stuff too.

By 9pm, it was getting dark and the haar rolled in.

Haar

Tuesday 27^th August

Warm and breezy. Dan cut the grass in the veg garden and made another barrel of silage. The blueberries and blackberries are really coming ripe now, so I picked what was ready, ate some and froze the rest.

Rebecca was here so we cleared out the two front flower beds.

Before.

After, with Rebecca and Dudley.

Heavy rain this evening.

 

Wednesday 28^th August

Warm and rain showers all day, so I did some baking. Banana loaf, gingerbread, gingernut biscuits and blueberry muffins.

The tree guys came and ate cake, then cut down some trees – well, bits of trees really. We’re getting them back to do the beech hedges. Sometimes you just have to use outside labour.

Old beech trimmed.

Did more Festival stuff and picked veg and apples for the greengrocer.

Thursday 29^th August

Heavy rain showers and very muggy. Received notification that we’re exempt from TB testing in 2020. Good news.

Dan repaired some of the holes in the poultry pen fences. The plastic deer netting is very vulnerable to strimmer attack – and that lets foxes in.

Dan's also had a bit of retail therapy. We're getting ready for teh apple harvest and juicing, so he's bought a bottle drainer and a contraption for filling three bottles at a time.

Dan's new bottling equipment. And Diesel and Bryn.

Visited a chum, my new phone came and I lost my To Do List. Delivered a surplus henhouse to friends out past Dundee.

Friday 30^th August

Dull and damp. Dan finished the fencing repairs. I spent some time in the veg garden, weeding mainly.

The dahlias are in full flower. Love 'em.

Dahlias, rudbekia and marigolds.

Saturday 31^st August

Introduction to smallholding course today. Good bunch and lots of good discussion.

The ponies were on grascutting duty this evening. Leo particularly likes the brash from Wednesday's tree work.

Ponies, hard at work.

Sunday 1^st September

Nice day – cool, breezy and sunny. Cleaned out the henhouses first thing, then popped down to EP to deliver beef and chicken (our rent) and to check the steers. All looking good – the black one is a good size, but the black and white one looks small to me. Ruaridh and Rocky looking braw.

Put Spotinor on the cows and ponies. Didn’t do the steers – the withdrawal period would take us up to 18^th and they go on the 23^rd; the flies didn’t seem to be a problem for them. It’s the cows that I worry about most.

One of our previous course participants has bought three ewe lambs. That leaves me with five Ryeland plus Scoot and the three BFL. They will lamb 2021 for the first time; I’ve got eleven going to the tup this year, including Kit and Bambi so that should work out fine. If nothing dies.