Fence building on the plot

I took this photo on the 25th Jan and said it was the next construction project. 

Well almost a month later I have finally started building the last section of fence, made from pallets. 

The first panel, made from 2x 1mtr Pallets nailed together. 

Then nailed into posts sunk 50% deeper into the ground, the pallets are 1mtr high so the posts are 1.5mtrs. 

So before the rain & hail set in I managed to get a second panel in place.
 Luckily I got 6 of these pallets free, from a house renovation nearby, the posts came from a neighbour who was replacing his fence last year, only cost was £3 for nails.

So when the fence is finished, next job is to renew the edge of this raised bed, as the old edges have rotted away. 
Not done too badly lasting about 10yrs, also got from a house sadly one that was being demolished & the roof joists made great raised beds, I made 6 in all.

It's now Sunday and despite the forecast of rain today, I still returned to my plot to finish the pallet fence. 

I did get rather damp, but us Allotmenteers are a hardy bunch come rain or shine we get the job done.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian.

Spring is in the air

The Garlic is in stock in the shop, so I bought 2 bulbs of 'Pink Carousel' can't wait to get it planted, looks lovely.

Still harvesting Parsnips & Sprouts. 
Will have these with our dinner tonight, the Sprouts are quite small, but will be sweeter, can't get fresher than that. 

A little corner of the shed set aside to brew a much needed cuppa, after a mornings digging we certainly need one!

Not much left to burn now that I've had 2 big bonfires, so using the incinerator bin now, takes less space and burns quickly with the lid on. 

Mine is a bit rusty around the base and it wont last much longer, got it propped up on a couple of breeze blocks, think I've had this one a few years now, so time for a replacement soon!

Really did feel like spring today, not warm, but not as cold as it has been, working the soil was easy, luckily not had frozen soil (yet). Finally got around to pruning the Apple trees, just in time too!

Got a few construction jobs lined up, so watch this space.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian.

Chitting and Chickens

I've had my seed Potatoes for 2 weeks now so here is my short lesson on 'chitting'. 

Look all over each spud, you are looking for a 'dimple' that is where it was attached to the parent plant, you need to set your spuds in an egg tray with this dimple down.

So only after two weeks I have already got some short green shoots showing. 

These are the 1st early 'Rocket' I have grown them before and found them to be very early as the name suggests. 

So here again is my 'chitting station' and old pine shelf unit I adapted by adding a few extra shelves. The Potatoes I'm growing this year, from top to bottom: 
Rocket
Charlotte 
Keers Pink 
and Cara 
194 in total, hope I have room for them all!

Chicken News: 
Our 7 hungry Chickens are doing well, the 3 Ex-Battery have retired and don't lay eggs anymore. 

The 4 Light Sussex have been laying since Jan 6th so just over a month now and so far we have had 88 eggs!

As you can see they are fully grown Hens now and I love their plumage.

The bright red comb & wattle is a good sign of health. 
Their diet of chicken feed, corn & allotment greens shows in the eggs they produce, with deep yellow yolks.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

Second Blog of 2015

 Well its been a while since my last Blog, so today I got some jobs done:
First I dug over this patch, some of you might remember I sowed some Spinach seeds here, not one germinated or maybe a mouse ate all the seed!

I had started Solent Wight Garlic at home, in cell trays. They put on good growth & great roots too, so a good time to plant out, where the Spinach was. 
I put fleece over them just to protect from frost and those cold mornings we have been experiencing.

Another job that's been awaiting my destruction skills was the last section of old rotten pallet fence, you can see here it's gone! Next job to construct a new section from pallets I have collected, free too.

So with all that scrap wood (from the fence) and a pile of dried weeds, it was a good excuse for another bonfire!

As I said it's been a while since my last Blog, but I have not neglected my plot, I have been visiting regularly, to check it and put kitchen & chicken waste in the compost bins, also watering the greenhouse as we have Spinach growing in there.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

1st day of 2015

 The Chilli that was growing in the Greenhouse needed picking, my hand in the shot for scale & I think you can agree its a whopper!

This young bird was very interested in what we were doing, think it's a Robin ?

The Senshyu White Onions I put in late autumn look fine, the weather is very changeable at the moment, one day cold & frosty, the next very mild and temperature in double figures, today 14 degrees!

The Red Winter Onions also doing well. 
I hope they swell soon as still quite small.

So 1st of January 2015.

Lets hope it's another good year for growing, I have plans afoot to finish the Pallet Fence & put in new edges to the path with reclaimed timber. 

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

Christmas Veg harvest

Went to the plot this morning just to harvest the following:
Charlotte Potatoes 
Parsnips 
& Sprouts.

Cant get fresher than that! 

We are having an early Christmas dinner today for visiting relatives that won't be around on Christmas day. 
We will of course be having Christmas dinner again on the 25th :)

The Garlic, Solent Wight, has finally put on growth in our unheated greenhouse. 
They have taken their time, I started them off ages ago, so now I can plant them out after hardening them off.

The weather has been so mild of late, just a few chilly days, but little if any frost, had plenty of rain though.

 Despite all this nothing much is growing, apart from Onions and Brassicas.

Thanks for reading/returning and Happy Christmas to you all. Ian

Chicken run extension

If you remember back in 2011 we started re-homing ex-battery Hens. 

I made a hen house from a donated small shed and made a run, soon after we realised they needed more room, so I extended the run. 
But as it was only a metre high it was difficult for us to get inside it to catch the Light Sussex hens that are still a bit flighty! 
They also have been able  (despite clipped wings) to get on top of the run extension & get on to the fence between us and our neighbours!

So I have dismantled the old run extension and replaced it with a full hight & wider run, so the hens will have more room and we can get inside it easily. 

This photo shows it in mid construction. Just need to re-locate the door and put the roof on.

As you can see in these photo's our current flock are doing well, even giving us an egg now and again. 

The cheeky Light Sussex hens do have fluffy bums! 

So it's finished. 
Now full height & about an extra 2 sqr Mtrs of floor space. The entire run has a corrugated plastic roof to give them more shelter for the winter and has a gentle slope so we can collect the water running off, so I will have to add more guttering to collect all the rain water in the rain barrel.

News update: 

My seed order has arrived from Kings Seeds, looking forward to getting all this planted.



I have been contacted about a very interesting website that's all about how to keep healthy and happy Hens, so I have added the link for you below:

http://www.custommade.com/blog/art-of-happy-hens/

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian