Need rain!

   So much for the rain! What fell did not have much of an affect, at least on the garden. The grass has greened up a little and I think the sheep are a little happier.
   In the garden another week or so has gone by with little done. I am reluctant to attempt to turn the earth over with it being so dry. Maybe I need to consider a no dig policy? In the poly tunnel the tomatoes are coming to an end and I have sorted out the self seeded beetroot. Never know I might get a few! I have picked a few miserable apples. There are plenty but they are small. A result of the dry weather methinks. Still picking tomatoes but they are definitely coming to an end know. The forecast is for colder weather so I think that will finish them off. Also day light is short!
    On the animal front the chickens are laying well and the Ixworth chicks are growing. The Ixworth coq is starting to assert himself and the senior hens are taking notice. I fear for the other Ixworth coq and I guess he will end up in the freezer. The senior hens have still not started to lay again after the demise of Mr. Ixworth. Maybe the rats are taking them but the new coop is pretty much rat proof. Mind you they have been going through a moult and this variety of chicken does seem to take its time in recovering from a moult.
    So onwards into late autumn/early winter. I still need to plant some garlic but again the ground is too dry. They will not root. Getting really desperate for some rain. There is now a total ban on the use of hose pipes etc in La Creuse.

Being watched by Bonaparte

Its been a quiet quiet time

  As I sit here typing this it is, yes, it is raining! The nice steady type of rain, not to light, not to heavy and it has been like that for about an hour and is continuing.
   So, since the last blog what has happened? Not a lot as I have been back to the UK to see my newest grand daughter, Lorelei. It was wonderful to see and hold her and of course to see my other grand daughter Evelyn and my daughter Samantha. Still, in the garden over the last week or so it has remained dry. No work on the plots.  The cucumbers inside the poly tunnel and outside are now finished. It has been a reasonable crop this  year. The butternut squash have been cut and stored. Again a reasonable crop considering the long dry spell.  I have picked more tomatoes and it is strange to pick ripe outdoor tomatoes in the middle of October! To be honest they are all but done now. Still some good sized ones in the poly tunnel and fingers crossed they may yet ripen on the vine!
    On the animal front the sheep are being sheep, the chickens are laying well and the ducks are quacking. The ducks are about to go to a new home to live amongst some female runners! I think they will like that some how.
     Looking to the weeks ahead there is plenty to tidy up but there is little in the garden. Some very poor looking Brussels sprouts, beet root and purple sprouting, two decimated rows of parsnips (voles) and a little clump of very bright green moss curled parsley. How long before the chickens decide that looks too good to leave alone.
     In the poly tunnel there is some beetroot, one sweet pepper plant with a sweet pepper on it and a number of Alberto Loco's chili's that have flowers on but they will surely not produce anything now? Well, I will leave them until they succumb to the cold. You never know!

Frist two jars of pickled onions

Alberto Loco chili in flower in October

What can I say?

    It is hard to find words to write. The dry weather continues, the ground is now too dry to do anything with and here I am hoping to get some garlic in. No point unless there is a bit of rain. Still, I have a couple of weeks yet before it is too late for a over winter sowing of garlic. There are some tomato plants hanging on in there particularly in the poly tunnel and are still providing a few ripe toms. 
    So what I have been up to? Nothing much in the garden expect picking a few tomatoes and the odd cucumber. The cucumbers have now gone over and I will soon be cutting the squash to put into storage. The winter supply of wood has arrived and been stacked. That took the better part of four days, moving from the delivery point to stacking under the hanger. Two lots, one from my local farmer just around the corner and the other from a farmer in the next village. So, wood stored and dry here is hoping for a little rain!

First delivery

Second delivery

Finished stacking!