Fairy doors / Birthday Smokey / Peas - The Accidental Smallholder

Posted: Monday 13 May, 2024

by Rosemary at 10:21am in Smallholding 1 comment Add your own

Monday 6^th May

Jings, we had a lot of rain overnight. I thought Dan was home this evening but it turns out it’s tomorrow evening. How did I miss that?

Baked a cake and made Tiramisu

Tuesday 7^th May

Dan’s home! Yippee!

Cooper and Diesel have a new box

A new box.

Wednesday 8^th May

I left one of the gates off the catch and the ponies got in with the cattle; they all seem happy enough though.

Unplanned mixed species grazing.

Thursday 9^th May

Finally planted up seven hanging baskets with “Million Bells” – two for the front garden and five for the back. They are on racks outside the polytunnel and will go up in a day or two.

This year's hanging baskets.

Topped up the pots in the back garden and planted them up with petunias. Still got loads left.

Friday 10^th May

Lovely day, so we took the plastic covers off the vegetable beds, ready for planting.

Naked beds.

I finished the first of the four new beds in the front garden and replanted the bed under the living room window. Not sure what I’m going to do about the one under the dining room window. Too many geraniums.

Dan and Murdo got on with riddling the soil back into the new front beds. It’s a job that would drive me nuts but they seem to like it. Dan wants to get that area cleared so they can get on with the woodland paths.

I bought some fairy doors.

Fairy doors.

Paul and Tara came for tea and Dan fired up the pizza oven. Yummy.

Saturday 11^th May

Sunny and I’d go as far as to say hot.  Dan harrowed the two Ditch paddocks this morning before it got too hot. Our tractor doesn’t like it when it’s hot.

Harrowing the grass.

I planted out two courgettes and four outdoor tomatoes, then did some weeding, while Dan put up the hanging baskets and planted the squash, sweetcorn and cucumber in the polytunnel.

Six eggs tonight, for the first time.

Egg full house.

Sunday 12^th May

Smokey’s 27^th birthday. He (and Mickey) had “Sweetheart Stout” on his breakfast.

Smokey at 27 years old.

Less sun today, but it was actually very pleasant for working about. We got all the peas planted out and the netting on. Copper managed to get stuck inside the netting (of course) and had to be rescued.

Peas please.

Dan finished the preparation of the polytunnel; tomatoes, basil and calendula go in tomorrow.

Weeded polytunnel.

Big list for the coming week.