Late Merry Christmas

    Eleven days since the last blog. It is getting a bit of a habit only producing a blog nearly once a fortnight. At the end of the day there has not really been a lot going on. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year readers.
  Well I guess you get what you wish for sometimes. The weather has been very damp and mild to date (27th December 2019). In fact so damp that when I went to fork up the parsnips for Christmas dinner the ground was almost liquid mud! So, little work done on the vegetable garden. There is some to do in the poly tunnel but I have not get there yet!

Christmas dinner parsnips

I do not know what has got into the chickens. A new record set for this lot! Nine eggs laid in one day at the end of December! A record. Confused chucks methinks!
  I am looking forward to some drier conditions and to be able to get on with clearing the vegetable beds. The leeks are looking generally a little sorry for themselves. The broad beans look good but will a sharp frost knock them down I wonder. Colder nights are forecast. Early purple sprouting is taking everything in its stride and is looking very good. Still some cabbage left and the garlic is well established as are the over winter onions. It will soon be time to think about sowing tomato seeds! Where does the year go?

Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!

   Well I got a tree and its up and decorated.
  This years chicks are really coming into lay. I am now getting up to five eggs a day from them and they are coloured white, blue, light brown and dark brown.
    I am still  getting produce from the garden. Cabbage, few small carrots, parsnips, leeks and various herbs. Be nice if the chickens left the beetroot alone but those leaves will recover eventually. Broad beans are standing the weather well but their testing time is yet to come. A little more weeding but the ground is really saturated and I really need to avoid stepping on it. I have straightened up edges of beds taking advantage of the soil being diggable! The chickens love me when I do this. Lots of worms get turned over and they dice with being speared or chopped by fork or spade!
  The weather remains wet and mild. There was one morning of frost this last week but so far it has been a mild winter. Trying to get out there and fork/weed what I can. The coldest part will be in January to March no doubt.

   Not gardening but it is interesting. A grey partridge came to visit as per the photograph above.

Damp and cold

The rising sun

   The cold mornings (there were a couple of mornings of frost) and damp weather along with the days getting shorter and boy are they shortening fast now are a big discouragement to going out and doing stuff in the garden. 22nd December is the shortest day. Anyway, despite that, I have managed to do some weeding and forking along with help of my feathered friends, the chickens who have merrily run the risk of being spiked by my fork to get a worm or two. I have cut another small cabbage left over from the summer drought and there are still a few more that are of an edible size. Plenty of leeks and a few carrots by the look of things in the ground and in storage I have onions and potatoes. Oh, must not forget the squash! Must make soup!
   For reasons only known to a chicken I am now getting five eggs a day. Usually at this time of year one expects one or two if one is lucky. I think it must be because this years chicks are coming into lay.
  So, still much to do but hey ho what gets done gets done. Next years vegetable seeds have been ordered and arrived post haste much to my pleasant surprise! Christmas is starting to take over and I need to go get a tree!